Secrets from the Cookie Princess: Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin

The thing with winters in New England is that it's dark before I leave work, it's so cold that I stay bundled up in the car for my hour-long drive home, and all I want to do when I go home is curl up on the couch under a blanket and next to the fire. Except Dave expects this thing he keeps calling "dinner" and I guess I should probably eat something too. And that is why I love my crock pot. Not only does it mean that dinner is done before I even walk in the door, most of these recipes have few ingredients, are quick to toss together in the stoneware, and usually end up with flavor so delicious, you'd think you spent hours cooking (when really the crock pot did all the work). Which is why this week, I'm bringing you a week's worth of crock pot meals, new favorites for us, to help make your winter months easier too. Starting with this pork tenderloin with a surprise ingredient (soy sauce) that might be the best I've ever made. The soy sauce is an evident flavor, but not overpowering. It's just about the last flavor you taste when you sop up the juices with this tender pork that just falls apart and melts in your mouth.

I love pork tenderloin with sauerkraut, but since Dave likes to pretend he's allergic to it, I poked around the Internet for a different pork recipe, but also wanted to make sure I could throw it in the crock pot. We usually grill our tenderloins, but seeing as the grill cover is frozen to the grill, I think we might be a few months away from doing that. No worries, because this recipe allrecipes.com, posted by chowsito, did the trick. I pulled this together in less than 5 minutes and was out the door. As a time saver, I used dried minced garlic, but you can use the prejarred minced garlic or mince it yourself. Served with baked potatoes and veggies, this is a simple, quick and delicious pork recipe that will make you want to eat dinner before you curl up on the couch.

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

1 2-3 pound pork tenderloin
1 ounce dry onion soup mix (one envelope)
1 cup water
3/4 cup red cooking wine
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons minced garlic or 3 teaspoons dried minced garlic
black pepper to taste

Place pork in the stoneware of a crock pot and sprinkle with dry onion soup mix, turning to coat on all sides.