Wow, we haven’t chatted for a while, friends.  My deepest apologies.  We left for a little family reunion late last week and I had every intention of touching base with you while we were on the road.  But, you know.  A couple of kids, 2 hours of rush hour traffic followed by a 3.5 hour road trip sort of got the best of me.  Then, as we were on our way, I thought, you know what, Ill wake up early one day over the weekend and write a quick blog post before everyone rolls out of bed”.  Haha.  My heart was there, I can assure you of that.  Execution, not so much.  

We had a weekend of such precious time with our immediate and extended family.  It was filled with late nights and early mornings, pools, sunshine, games, squeals from the little cousins running wild, Lebanese dancing, and more food than you can possibly imagine.  From fried kibbie to cabbage rolls to labne to fatire to tabouli to baklava and everything in between.  But that was just for one dinner.  The rest of the weekend?  We filled in the blanks with cookies and caramel corn and my sisters famous pretzels and cheese curds (we were in Wisconsin, after all).  Blissful.  And now, I feel tired. And full.  And as much as I want to blink myself right back there to be with my amazing family, it feels good to be back to normal eating.  And Grilled Pork Chops + Pineapple Salsa was a perfect way to start off our back-on-track week.

This recipe is filled with ordinary ingredients and ordinary techniques.  But the taste is far from ordinary.

 Putting the pineapple on the grill gives you the most wonderful, complex, caramelized start to your ‘salsa’.  Just throw in a bit of lime and cilantro and you’ve got one heck of a condiment.  SO simple.

And the pork.  The bone gets the credit for making these the most juicy chop you may have ever had.  But the  drizzle of olive oil, dusting of chili powder, salt and pepper will give you seasoning and char that is simply perfect.

Put the two together and there will be so much yum happening.

 Try this one, guys, you will be so glad you did. So healthful and such a wonderful, fresh breath of summer!

Easy Grilled Pork Chops + Pineapple Salsa

note:  I used about 1 cup of the chopped pineapple for the salsa..which equated to about 4 spears of pineapple.

Ingredients

For the Pork Chops

2 Bone-In, Center Cut Pork Chops, approximately 1-1 1/2 lbs

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

3/4 Teaspoon Chili Powder or Chipotle Chili Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

For the Pineapple Salsa

4-6 Pineapple Spears

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Clove Garlic, grated or pressed

2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

1 Tablespoon Chopped Cilantro

1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt or Sea Salt

Pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional

Directions

For the Pork Chops

Preheat grill to medium high heat.  Rub olive oil, salt, chili powder and pepper all over both sides of the chops until evenly coated.  Place pork chops on the grill and cook, covered, for 10-12 minutes, flipping once in between cooking, or until outsides are nicely browned and insides are cooked to desired doneness.

For the Pineapple Salsa

Preheat grill to medium high heat.  Brush all sides of the pineapple spears with olive oil.  Place on the grill and cook, covered, for approximately six minutes, turning occasionally, or until dark grill marks have formed.  Remove pineapple from the grill and finely chop.

Place chopped pineapple, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and red pepper flakes, if desired, into a small bowl and toss well to coat.  Can be made ahead and kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

To serve:  Spoon pineapple salsa over Grilled Pork Chops.  Serves 2+.