Grilled Pork Loin with Brown Rice Salad
on Oct 27, 2014, Updated Nov 04, 2023
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A perfect year-round entertaining dish. You can also make this pork in the oven if you prefer.
This is not the first pork loin recipe I’ve offered up. I don’t know what took me so long to recognize that this cut of meat is a total and complete life saver.
It’s cheap (I guess I should say economical, which sounds classier), it’s easy to find, it takes well to all kinds of flavors. Also, I finally realized that short brining is not only easy and not a big deal at all, but the results make such a great difference.
The combination of these two epiphanies has resulted in a pork loin festival in our house.
The introduction of some slivered cantaloupe into the rice dish may surprise you. It surprised me. I saw it included in an Indian curry dish somewhere recently, and it stuck in my mind. And then, this about this: melon with prosciutto—pretty classic and delicious combo, right? (Also check out this prosciutto and Asian pear crostini).
You could try other melons as well, to change things up. Or instead of the melon, maybe dice up some Grilled Pineapple for another sweet burst of fruit in the rice salad.
This is a perfect year round entertaining dish. It manages to be light and substantial and healthy at the same time, not to mention really attractive. You could make it ahead and serve it at room temperature, which is also a big old plus.
And while we all might think of pork roasts in the colder months, I actually think this is a perfect summertime dinner. Again, the room temperature option, great on warmer nights, and just something about it says “I would look good on an outdoor table.”
The pork is intended to be cooked on the grill BUT, you could certainly sear it in a pan and then roast it if it’s not grilling season.
However you cook it, a meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the pork loin should register 140 F. (The FDA says higher, but they are missing out on some more juicy pork). Grilling is a very inexact science so do use the thermometer to check.
If you have a smaller group or just want to make this for your family, you use use smaller pork tenderloins, and just adjust the cooking time.
Gary said this was one of the best rice dishes I’ve made in a long time. I always try to look at the positive given a slightly ambiguous compliment like that.
More Pork Recipes to Try:
- Pork Chops with Italian Salsa Verde
- One Skillet Creamy Mustard Pork Chops
- Prosciutto and Pork Banh Mi
- Pork and Bok Choy Stir Fry
Grilled Pork Loin with Brown Rice Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Pork Loin
- 2 to 3 pound pork loin
- ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup red onion minced
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons less sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
For the Brown Rice Salad
- 4 cups cooked brown rice at room temperature (prepare according to package directions)
- ½ medium cantaloupe seeded
- 1 cup sliced scallions white and green parts
Instructions
- Brine the pork loin (see note below).
- When you are ready to cook the pork, make the dressing. In a small container combine the oil, red onion, mustard, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, grated fresh ginger, and pepper.
- Remove the pork from the brine and pat the pork dry with paper towels.
- Preheat a gas grill to medium. Place the pork on the grill and cover. Grill for 25 to 40 minutes, turning the loin every 5 to 8 minutes, until it is evenly browned on the outside and a meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the pork loin registers 140 F. Grilling is a very inexact science so do use the thermometer to check. Remove the pork from the heat, tent it with foil, and let it rest for 8 to 10 minutes before slicing.
- While the pork is cooking, make the brown rice salad. Cut the cantaloupe into 6 wedges, remove the rind and slice the wedges crosswise into thin slices. Toss the rice with the cantaloupe, half the scallons, and the dressing (save a couple of tablespoons of dressing for drizzling over the finished dish). Spread the rice salad onto a serving platter.
- Slice pork into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and arrange over the rice salad. Sprinkle over the remaining sliced scallions, drizzle over the last bit of dressing, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Hi! This recipe tastes really good, wasn’t expecting that from meat with cantaloupe but it made me curious and i tried it. Flavors are great together. How many cooking time would you suggest for a 2-3 lb pork loin in the oven? Thank you so much!
this is a handy chart for cooking times: https://www.porkcdn.com/sites/porkbeinspired/library/2014/06/2924.pdf
I would note that I like to take out pork loin when it reaches an internal temp of 140°F, and then let it rest for 10 minutes or so.
Excuse me? The cut in the (2nd) image above is not even a loin. Replace your stock pintrest image with authentic images of your own creation and fix this recipe before wasting someone else’s time. Cooking for 35 to 45 minutes will create charcoal from a cut shown in the image above, and also with most typical loins.
A loin should take MUCH less time to medium well done, unless your loin is gargantuan. Try 25 minutes at medium. 45 minutes, even at low heat, will create a dry, inedible piece of leather which will bear no resemblance to the photos.
Are you sure this is your recipe? Have you made it before? The stock pintrest image leads me to believe that you haven’t. There are a few other websites with (almost) the exactly the same recipe but with different images. Please improve your content. I landed here by accident and am unimpressed by the errors within. The recipe looks like it would be appealing to my family after I correct it, however.
wow, Paul. I took that image, and made that dish. And I adjusted the short side of cooking time down a bit to acknowledge the fact that a thinner loin might take less time, but in the THREE times I made it (with a thicker piece of pork) it did take about 35 minutes over medium heat. Tell you what – I’ll do my best to write good recipes that are my very own, and photograph them as best I can, and you go find a site that doesn’t make you so angry. Ok?