Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin, Beets and Pine Nuts

The pork loin asks for almost nothing. Salt, pepper, a generous coat of olive oil, then wrapped in bacon and into a hot oven, 425°F, for about 35 minutes. The bacon does two jobs at once: it bastes the loin as it renders, keeping a lean cut from drying out, and it crisps into the best part of the plate. A lean loin cooked naked is a sad thing. Wrapped in bacon, it cooks itself.

The beets are where the small magic happens. Washed, peeled, cut into small cubes, then into a hot pan with just a splash of water to get the steam going. The beets release their own liquid almost immediately, a deep ruby that pools in the pan, and it is genuinely beautiful to watch. When the pan is nearly dry, in goes butter, let it melt and coat every cube, then the pine nuts to toast and caramelize at the edges. The whole side takes the time the pork spends resting.

Two components, two techniques, one of them doing the work while you tend the other. That is the whole trick of a weeknight plate that tastes like more than its effort.