Paleo-Friendly Meals: Cilantro Lime Pork Chops

Ahhh summer. Sunny days, warm nights, and most importantly – it’s grilling season! Cooking on the grill is great for people who hate cleaning up the kitchen – like me! You can cook almost anything on the grill – including cakes and muffins, but I’m not that advanced yet. Today’s recipe is cheap, quick, and delicious: Cilantro Lime Pork Chops! Let’s get to it! Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_1 Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_16First, gather your ingredients: pork chops, limes, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Prep your ingredients by chopping the cilantro, mincing the garlic, and halving the limes. Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_15 To begin the vinaigrette, squeeze the juice from your limes – it should equal about 1/4 cup. Tough time getting the juice out? Pop the whole limes into the microwave for about 8-10 seconds, slice, and squeeze away. BONUS: This would make a great salad dressing. Add in some Dijon mustard and/or honey and you’re good to go! Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_14 Add the lime juice to a bowl and whisk in the minced garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_13 Measure out your olive oil and slowly whisk it into the lime mixture.Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_12 Why slowly whisk? What happens when you put oil with vinegar? It separates! So what better way to join two ingredients that clearly don’t want to be around each other than slowly and little by little. Same concept can be applied to life. Sometimes…
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_8Once you’ve finished your vinaigrette, set aside. Open the pork chops, pat dry with a paper towel, and season each side with salt and pepper.
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_6 Light up the grill on medium-high heat. I’m cooking with a gas grill, so adjust these instructions from here based on the type of grill you’re using. I don’t have much experience with wood or coal grills, so gas is my forte. Additionally, my grill is a little temperamental and sometimes likes to burst into flames. Safe flames of course. Safe-ish flames. I can’t explain it. So medium for me is like a controlled burn, whereas high is more of a smoldering inferno. Just use your judgement.
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_5Stick your lovely seasoned chops on the grill, close the lid, and walk away. I find that a grill is like a kettle – a watched kettle never boils. However, an ignored grill almost always burns. So don’t go too far, but let the chops cook for 4-8 minutes depending on the thickness. I had medium, center cut chops so 5 minutes was sufficient.
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_4Turn the chops and let cook for another 4-8 minutes. If you don’t cook pork much, you need to know that it cannot be served under or you’ll get a tape-worm and end up on the Monsters Inside Me. Kidding, you’ll just get worms. Really. Don’t do it. No one wants worms.
Kimberly Morté’s iPad Mini 2015.06.09_3Serve the chops with the vinaigrette drizzled over the top. Reserve some extra vinaigrette if any of your eaters are into dipping. Enjoy!

Paleo-Friendly Meals: Cilantro Lime Pork Chops

Total Time: 25 minutes

Per Serving 364 calories

Fat 26 g

Carbs 1 g

Protein 31 g

6


Ingredients

  • 3-6 pork chops
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro
  • 2-3 limes, enough to yield 1/4 cup juice
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • S&P for seasoning

Instructions

  1. Begin by prepping your ingredients: mince the garlic, chop the cilantro, and juice the limes.
  2. Add lime juice, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes to a bowl. Whisk to combine.
  3. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until completely combined. Set aside.
  4. Pat pork chops dry with a paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper.
  5. Warm the grill to medium/high heat and cook the pork for 4-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your cut.
  6. Pour vinaigrette over pork chops and reserve some of the mixture for dipping.
  7. Enjoy!

 

Leave a Reply