Justin turned 30 this past June and we had some friends over to celebrate. Among his favorite gifts was an enormous 16 lb. pork tenderloin. It was giftwrapped and presented to him with care by his good friend, Bob, who obviously knows him well.
We decided that the best use of the meat would be to chop it up into 4 equal parts, and cook each 4lb section on a different day, and in a different style. The first three variations all started in the crock pot. For the last piece, however, I decided to use the oven to cook the meat, hoping that it would still retain it’s juiciness. It did. 
To prepare for this recipe, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place the pork loin ( about 3-4 pounds) in a baking dish. If there is a layer of fat on the meat, position it so that the fat layer is facing up. It might be helpful to use a roasting pan that has a rack. If you don’t have one, some twisted up tin foil will do just fine.
Season the meat liberally with a mix of olive oil, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper. The first three spices should equal up to about 1T, and the salt and pepper should be another Tablespoon, combined. Mix those spices and the olive oil in a small dish and create a paste. Then, slather it on the top and sides of the meat.
Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 250 degrees and cook for an additional 50-70 minutes. It’s done when the center is slightly pink, but not fleshy. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before eating.
While the roast is cooling down, chop up some thin asparagus into halves, cut up half of an orange or yellow pepper, and about a quarter of a red onion. Steam the asparagus and peppers by cooking them in a large saute pan with a few teaspoons of water, and covered with a lid. After 5 minutes, uncover and add in the onions. Season it simply, and let the water boil off. Serve and eat!
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