Pork Fajitas with Apple-Avocado Salsa

I have to admit that when I posted my "which recipe should I feature next" poll last week, I secretly hoped the Pork Fajitas with Apple-Avocado Salsa would win. They sounded good; not wintry at all, which is what I need right now. I'm done with winter. Unfortunately mother nature is not.

I invited Amy and Amanda over a couple of nights ago for a little break from the monotony of mid-January. Amanda brought salsa and pepper jelly she made this summer. We opened a bag of chili-lime pistachios from Christmas, a bottle of wine, and started cooking. I really wasn't sure how the salsa would turn out; I couldn't find a few of the ingredients I needed, so I did without. But with good friends and a little wine, there were no worries. Good thing, too, because no worry was necessary. The fajitas turned out great - the salsa was fresh, crisp tasting, and summery. Just what we needed.

Pork Fajitas with Apple-Avocado Salsa
2 tbsp. water (1 cup water if using dried chiles, see below)
1 tsp. chili powder (original recipe called for 4 dried cascabel chiles)
3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 (1-lb.) pork tenderloin
8 flour tortillas (7-inch)
2 cups Apple - Avocado Salsa (recipe follows)

1. Combine water and chili powder (or boil water and chiles; remove from heat; cover and let stand 15 min.; drain, reserving 2 tbsp. liquid).
2. Combine chili water (or chiles and reserved liquid), lime juice, salt, and garlic in food processor, blender, or Magic Bullet. Process until smooth.
3. Trim fat from pork loin; place loin in a shallow dish. Pour chili/chile mixture over loin; cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
5. Coat broiler pan with cooking spray; remove pork from dish and place on broiler pan. Brush excess marinade over pork. Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees in thickest part of loin. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. (Make salsa while pork loin cooks)
6. Warm tortillas according to directions on package. Cut pork loin diagonally across the grain. Arrange 1/8 of pork slices and 2 tbsp. Apple-Avocado(A-A) Salsa. Fold tortilla over fillings. Top with 2 tbsp. A-A salsa (or you could just put all 4 tbsp. of salsa in the fajita, which is what we did).

Servings: 4
Serving size: 2 fajitas
Adapted from Cooking Light

Apple-Avocado Salsa
1 cup diced Granny Smith apple
1/4 c. diced red bell pepper
1/4 c. diced red onion
1/2 tsp. grated lime rind
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 tsp. minced garlic from jar)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
optional: 1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
optional: 1 1/2 tsp. minced jalapeno
1/2 c. diced peeled avocado

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a medium bowl. Gently stir in avocado.
(Make this salsa the same day you serve it; mine didn't keep all that well)

Per serving of 2 fajitas, each with 4 tbsp. A-A salsa:
Calories 462; fat 13.4 g; protein 32.2 g; carbs 52.5 g; cholesterol 79 mg; iron 4.4 mg; Points - 10*
* it would be easy to reduce points by reducing the amount of A-A salsa used per fajita, by leaving the avocado out of the salsa, or by eating only 1 fajita (with sides or appetizers, 1 is quite filling). If you're not counting points, add more avocado . . . yum!

We also made the angel cups from my previous post . . . they were good!