The secret to juicy grilled meat is in the marinade. In today’s recipe, we’ll give you our secret marinade and a delicious drizzle sauce for a surprisingly healthful meat for your summertime cookout: lean pork.

Certain cuts of pork are high in fat, but not pork tenderloin. It has just 1 gram of saturated fat per 3-ounce serving and offers a lot of nutrition.

A 3-ounce portion provides 22 grams of muscle-building protein and more than 25% of the daily requirements for B vitamins such as niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. B vitamins play a key role in our metabolism. It also provides 25% of the daily requirements for zinc, a nutrient that is important for the immune system. 

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 To prepare a pork tenderloin, remove any so-called silver skin by sliding a sharp knife underneath it. This silver skin is connective tissue and toughens up when cooked.

To cut the pork tenderloin into medallions, simply slice the tenderloin into 1-inch portions. For even portions, it's best to slice the tenderloin when the meat is cold.

By marinating the pork medallions overnight, you'll give it a sweet and salty flavor. Your meat will be tender and juicy, too. Just don’t overcook it.  

You can prevent overcooking by using a meat thermometer. The safe internal temperature for pork is 145 degrees, which is surprisingly lower than the temperature required for turkey and chicken (165 degrees).  

When you pull the pork medallions off the grill, you can add the perfect finishing touch: a creamy mustard and maple syrup sauce. You’ll have your friends oohing and aahing every time. If you ever grill beef burgers again, expect someone to say, “Hey, where’s the pork?”

Bethany Thayer is a registered dietitian nutritionist with Henry Ford Health. For more recipes and health information, visit henryford.com/blog. For questions about today’s recipe, email HenryFordLiveWell@hfhs.org.

Serves: 8 servings of 3 medallions each / Prep time: 15 minutes (plus marinating time)  / Total time: 40 minutes

2 pork tenderloins (16 ounces each), fat trimmed and each sliced into 12 medallions

Place pork medallions in a large resealable plastic bag. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, vanilla extract, water and brown sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour marinade over the medallions. Seal bag and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.   

When ready to grill, spray a cold grill grate with grilling spray and turn grill to medium-high heat. Remove medallions from the marinade. Place medallions on grill. Discard the marinade.

Grill the medallions for approximately 20 minutes, turning every 5-10 minutes until medallions reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

To make the mustard sauce: In a small saucepan, whisk together maple syrup, half-and-half, Dijon mustard and salt. Heat over medium-low heat. Do not allow the sauce to boil. Remove from heat and drizzle over medallions before serving.

Cook's note: A thin silver membrane is usually on one side of the tenderloin. It is  tough and should be removed before cooking. Slide a sharp knife under the silver and cut it away.

182 calories (19% from fat), 4 grams fat (1.5 gram sat. fat), 11 grams carbohydrates, 23 grams protein, 459 mg sodium, 62 mg cholesterol, 27 mg calcium,  0 grams fiber. Food exchanges:  1 fruit, 4 protein.