Spinach and Pork Tenderloin Salad with Pears and Warm Shallot and Cranberry Vinaigrette

Another winner from Cooking Light! This one came from the April issue of my new favorite mag. I am really excited at how satisfying this salad is. It totally filled me up and it felt good to eat so much iron-y, calcium-y goodness. I had to make a few slight adjustments, including only making two servings. My modified recipe is below. You can find the original recipe here.

8 oz pork tenderloin (or about half of one tenderloin*), trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 tsp brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp dried thyme, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch of salt and pinch of pepper
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/4 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, sliced thinly
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/4 concentrated pomegranate blueberry juice - that's what I had on hand. The original recipe calls for cranberry juice cocktail
6 C baby spinach leaves
1 ripe pear, thinly sliced

Combine vinegar, mustard, sugar, small dash of salt and pepper and 1/4 tsp thyme in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine flour with remaining thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Flatten the slices of pork between two pieces of plastic wrap with a heavy pan. Toss the slices of pork in the flour mixture and set aside.

Heat 1 Tsp oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and minced garlic to pan. Sautee for 3 minutes or until the shallots are tender and lightly browned. Add cranberries and juice. Cook until liquid is reduced to 2 Tbsp (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat to low and add the vinegar mixture. Cook 1 minute, stirring with a whisk. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Shake the excess flour from the slices of pork and add them to the skillet. Cook 3 minutes or until brown, turning once. Toss the pork with 1 Tbsp warm cranberry mixture.

Cobine spinach and pear in a large bowl. Drizzle with remaining cranberry mixture and toss well to coat. Arrange the spinach on 2 plates and top evenly with pork.

WW Points per Serving: 8 points

*Since it's just Mr. Tote and I, we trim our pork tenderloins right after purchasing and usually cut them in half crosswise before packing them individually in freezer bags. Half of a tenderloin is usually plenty of food for the both of us.