Winner, Winner, Another One-Pan Dinner! Spicy Pork with Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

Don't hate us because we're beautiful.

Oh, the under-rated parsnip. They're the funny white things that look like carrots. They seem to scare a lot of people, and this is sad. They are delicious, with a earthy sweetness that is brought to life beautifully when they are roasted and served with horseradish cream or sauteed paired with pancetta and peas. You can mash them alone or with potatoes. You can puree them with carrots. Toss them with pasta. They should be a part of every batch of roasted root vegetables you prepare.

If Bubba had lived through Vietnam, he'd stop going on about shrimp all the time and make some room for parsnips.

There's sauteed parsnips, roasted parsnips, parsnips and pasta,
parsnip curry, fried parsnips, parsnip soup, mashed parsnips,
parsnip kebabs, parsnip custard, parsnip pancakes, grilled
parsnips. parsnips Creole, parsnip bread pudding....

In this rendition, they are combined with sweet potatoes and shallots and roasted along with pork tenderloin in a sweet, spicy and savory blend of seasoning. It's very simple and fairly quick (except the watercress takes a little time and patience to pull the leaves off the stems), but it looks like you spent hours on it.

I serve this with Ginger Cardamom Rice, which is just any kind of rice you prefer, prepared according to rice instructions, only you add a tablespoon or so of finely minced fresh ginger and several whole cardamom pods in with the water. Just don't eat the cardamom pods. I keep count of how many I put in and pick them out after cooking. If that seems like too much effort after all that watercress stemming, just throw in some ground cardamom, I'd say about 1 tsp for 2 cups of rice.

Mangia!

Spicy Pork with Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes 

Adapted from Yahoo

1 large sweet potato, peeled, halved, and sliced 1/2 inch thick

3 large parsnips, peeled, halved, and cut into 2-inch pieces

3 large shallots, peeled and cut into wedges

1 ½ tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger

3 tbsp olive oil, divided, plus more for serving

2 tbsp Tamari, divided
1 tbsp sriracha, or to taste

2 tbsp light-brown sugar

1 tsp cayenne pepper, divided , or to taste

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/2 pound), excess fat and silver skin removed

Coarse salt, pepper

1 bunch watercress, trimmed

Dressing:
1tbsp sriracha
1tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp Tamari

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss sweet potato, parsnips, shallots, ginger, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp Tamari and 1/2 tsp cayenne and spread in an even layer. Mix together brown sugar, remaining oil, Tamari, cayenne and sriracha and rub all over pork; add to sheet. Season pork and vegetables with salt and pepper and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of pork reads 145 degrees, 30 to 32 minutes. About halfway through cooking, give the vegetables a stir. Remove pork and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Mix dressing ingredients together. Toss vegetables with watercress, drizzle with dressing, and season. Thinly slice pork and serve with any accumulated juices from sheet and the salad.