beef tenderloin with apricot and olives

Do you have dinner plans tonight?

I think you really should make this beef tenderloin with apricot and olives.

Tonight.

Seriously.

I normally would save this kind of recipe for a Monday or a Tuesday, but I just made it myself and can’t help but share. It’s just that good. It’s my mom’s recipe and, well, she knows her stuff. The beef is sauteed and then tossed in a mouth watering tangy sauce made from apricot preserves, kalamata olives and vinegar, and then finished off with baby spinach and fluffy jasmine rice. I’m guessing mom adapted this from an old Bon Appetit or Gourmet recipe, and it really just hits the spot.

Plus, it comes together in only about twenty minutes, making it the perfect Saturday evening meal.

Are you sold yet?

When it comes to BEEF, I don’t mess around.

I rarely eat it, so when I do, I go big or go home. I buy grass-fed organic and always opt for the best quality possible. While you could make this dish with chicken (mom has before), it’s just not as good. For some reason, the apricot sauce just really works best with beef. So beef it is!

Here you have about a pound of diced sirloin. To begin, I’m going to brown the beef in one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat.

This takes about six minutes. You just want the beef to be cooked about medium/rare. Don’t go overboard or else it’ll dry out!

Then, remove the beef with a spatula, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place it on a clean plate while you make the sauce.

Now it’s time to get saucy!  Add three cloves of chopped garlic to the same pan you cooked the beef in.

It’s going to smell really, really, really good. Get ready!

Once that’s cooked for a few minutes, add three tablespoons of red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.

And then a whole cup of apricot preserves. I really never even LIKED apricot preserves until I had this dish.

Yummy. As the sauce cooks, it thickens and gets an almost caramelized note to it. I mean, just look at that color!

Add a cup of roughly chopped olives…

Also add the beef back in and a bag of spinach!

Cook for a few minutes so that the beef heats through and the spinach wilts. Then ladle this deliciousness right onto a pile of jasmine rice and consume.

It doesn’t really have to be “jasmine” rice, I suppose…but I’m doing what my mom says to do.

A good lesson in life, no?

And that, my friends, is a darn good dinner. Make it for a crowd or make it for yourself. Why? Because you’re worth it.

Beef Tenderloin with Apricot and Olives

serves 4

1 1/4 lbs beef tenderloin, chopped into large cubes

1 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 T red wine vinegar

1 cup apricot preserves

1 6-oz bag baby spinach

1 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

jasmine rice to serve

Brown the beef in the olive oil over medium high heat. When it’s medium rare, remove from pan, set on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Add the minced garlic to the same pan you cooked the beef in. Cook for about three minutes and then add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, stirring well to scrape up any brown bits. Add the apricot preserves and cook for four minutes, until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Add the olives, beef and spinach and heat through, cooking for a few minutes so that the spinach wilts and the beef finishes cooking.

Serve over jasmine rice.