One of our favorite family meals usually involves pork in some way. We like pork, and like to get super creative when we cook it. One of my favorite ways to enjoy pork, is simply to roast it in the oven, after seasoning it with a simple blend of herbs and spices.

Oven Roasted Rosemary Pork

An oven roasted pork tenderloin is super simple to make. We picked up a 2 pound pork roast last week, and I made plans to make a yummy Sunday lunch for my family. I knew that I wanted to season the pork tenderloin, so when it came to room temperature, I lightly drizzled olive oil over the top of the pork. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, so it would be nice and warm when I was ready to put the pork into the oven,

When it came to seasoning the pork, I first used a simple rub of sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. I knew that I also wanted to season the pork with rosemary, so I headed out to my herb garden and snipped a couple of fresh rosemary sprigs. I washed and gently dried the sprigs, stripped the leaves off, and gently gave them a rough chop, which releases the flavor.

Fresh rosemary is extra delicious, but dried rosemary works just as well.

I began arranging the rosemary...

...and I arranged a few of the leftover rosemary sprigs on top of the pork roast.

Does this look beautiful, or what?

I popped the seasoned pork tenderloin into the oven for 1 hour. After the timer sounded, I removed the roast from the oven, placed it on a cutting board, and let it rest for at least ten minutes before cutting into it. This is an important step that is often overlooked. Letting the meat rest helps it retain its juices once you cut into it. If you slice into the meat immediately, after cooking, the juices will run out, and dry meat may be an unwanted result.

Hubby sliced the pork tenderloin beautifully, and it was ready to be served.

We invited my mom and dad to eat lunch with us after church, and it was a veritable feast! I served the pork alongside mashed potatoes, tossed salad, crescent rolls and applesauce. This meal very much reminded me of the Sunday dinners my mom used to prepare each and every Sunday, and we hadn't had a meal like this on a Sunday afternoon in a long time!

Dinner is served!

The pork was so delicious. It was tender and juicy, and everyone really enjoyed it. The rosemary added an amazing flavor to the otherwise bland meat. I'm sure we'll be having this meal again very soon! I'd love to hear from you, if you decide to give this a try!

How do you like to prepare pork?