Spring Salad with Mustard and White Wine-Marinated Pork Chop

Posted: April 17, 2018

 

This spring salad is far more than a little side salad to accompany your entree. This thing is the MAIN EVENT! From the marinated, center-cut pork chop to the homemade shallot and basil dressing, this bad boy will give your taste buds all the feels. Give this recipe a go and when you fall in love, leave us a comment and share it with your friends!

RECIPE

Servings: 6
Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Pork Marinade:

  • 6 1.5″ thick center cut pork chops
  • 1/2 c fresh thyme
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 small shallot
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 c white wine (I used chardonnay)
  • sea salt and cracked pepper
  • 2 tbsp whole-grain dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp ground mustard powder
  • 2 tbsp oregano
  • 2 tbsp basil

Salad Dressing:

  • 1/2 c fresh basil
  • 1/4 c olive oil
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 small shallot
  • 2 small cloves garlic
  • salt and cracked pepper

Salad:

  • 1 1/2 c arugula
  • 3-5 spears purple asparagus
  • 1/4-1/2 red bell pepper
  • 1 large strawberry
  • 1/4 c blueberries
  • thinly-sliced cucumber

 

Instructions: Begin by trimming any unwanted fat from your pork chops, then season them with mustard powder, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

Once the pork chops are well-seasoned, set them aside and roughly chop up 1 small shallot and 5 cloves of garlic.

In a hot cast iron skillet, sauté the shallot and garlic in 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Add in a small pinch of fresh thyme sprigs and turn the heat down to medium, stirring occasionally. After roughly 3-4 minutes (or until shallots are translucent and garlic is slightly browned), remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, combine the white wine, juice of 1 lemon, whole-grain dijon mustard, remaining fresh thyme, shallots and garlic from sauté pan, and salt and cracked pepper. Whisk well until fully combined.

Once well-mixed, pour the marinade into a plastic bag, add in pork chops and remove all remaining air from the bag. Zip it closed and move the contents of the bag around, soaking the pork chops in the marinade. Place in the fridge for thirty minutes to an hour (or until ready to use).

While the pork is marinating, make up your salad and dressing. To make the dressing, use either a blender, NutriBullet, VitaMix, food processor, or Immersion Blender. I like the Immersion Blender because it is less cleanup!

In your blender, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, basil, chopped shallot and garlic, and salt and pepper until well-combined and smooth. Pour the dressing into a Ball jar or trendy/hipster contraption of your choice.

Now all that’s left to do is fry up your pork chops! I like the cast iron skillet for this because it gives the pork chops lots of flavor and a gorgeous golden-browned crust. Let the skillet get nice and hot before adding your meat so that you don’t dry it out and use 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp olive oil to keep them from sticking to the skillet.

Once the pan is ready, add your pork chops and let them sizzle on each side for around 3-4 minutes (mine were relatively thin so add an extra minute or two if they are on the thicker side!). Once they are a lovely golden brown, take your pork chops off the heat and slice them up or store them for later use.

You’ve made it to the final step! Deck your salad out with your pork chop and then lightly drizzle on about 1 tbsp of your dressing. Now sit back and enjoy!