pork with pineapple salsa (and garden update)

before i get to today's dinner, i have tomatoes!

after last year's tomato fiasco (something, i suspect deer, ate my tomato plants down to nothing) it looks like i'm going to have some this year!

and leeks. this year's carrots look way better than last year's.



as long as i can keep the rabbits away, i'll have romaine in a couple weeks too.

i've also got peas, green beans, mesclun mix, potatoes, red onions, green onions, zucchini, and pumpkin working along nicely.

anyway, back to the pork.

i haven't been able to get a good red onion at the store for weeks. they're all mushy, dented, or have rotten spots in them. i don't know what the deal is, but it isn't good none the less. while this definitely would have been better with a red onion (and looked better in the photo), my vidalia worked fine.

here's a trick for those of you who don't want to fire up the grill, don't have a grill pan, or don't want to substitute a saute pan. use a george foreman grill. everyone i knew in college had one, so i'm sure many of you have one lying around too. i have an older model of this one, that's perfectly sized (big enough to cook 4 burgers at a time on it). my onion ended up in six slices, which i cooked first for four minutes. took it off and added the pineapple for four. took those off and cooked the pork for three, and cut up the onion and pineapple while the pork was cooking. it worked perfectly and was faster than heating up a saute pan.

and i bet this would be perfect with grilled apples and onions instead of pineapple. peel and slice the apple into rings, grill, and cut into bite size pieces, just like the pineapple.

pork chops with pineapple salsa
adapted from cooking light, march 2010
30 minutes start to finish (includes breaking down the pineapple), serves 2

4 thin cut pork chops
1/4 pineapple, cut into 1/2" thick rings
1 small red onion (or white onion if you can't find red), sliced into 1/2" thick rings
the juice of one lime
salt & pepper
non stick spray

1. in a bowl, add ~1 tablespoon of lime juice and the pork. let marinate while you cut up the pineapple and onions. don't worry about coring the pineapple slices when you cut them. it's much easier to remove them once they're cooked.
2. heat a grill pan over medium high heat (or see my foreman grill method above). grill the onion and pineapple about 4 minutes per side. remove from heat and when cool enough to handle, cut into bite size pieces. and place in a bowl. add the remaining lime juice and toss with the onion and pineapple.
3. cook the pork about 3 minutes per side.
4. serve pork with pineapple onion salsa.