Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Cherry Plum Salsa

This post was sponsored by Honest Cooking, and all opinions expressed here are my own.  #120DaysofSummer

Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Cherry Plum Salsa are juicy, grilled pork chops topped with a sweet and spicy salsa with grilled plums, cherries, and jalapeno.  This main dish is light, fresh, and full of summer flavor!

Grilling is definitely one of my favorite things about summer.  Yes, I do grill year round, but it’s much more enjoyable when the weather is gorgeous.  Sunshiny grilling vibes are the very best kind.

These Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Cherry Plum Salsa is my kind of summer meal.  It’s healthy, easy, and lightning quick.  My favorite part –besides eating it! — is that I don’t even have to wash a pot afterward.

I heart my grill. 🙂

The inspiration for this dish came from Santa Rita Wine’s 120 Hero’s Salute Red Blend and Badia seasoning.

I received them both, and was asked to develop a recipe that would utilize the seasoning in a grilled dish, and also pair beautifully with the wine.  This dish just does that.  When I tasted a bit of the Badia seasoning, which you can find on their website here) I immediately tasted cumin, which made me think pork chops.  The seasoning is inspired by Latin cooking and is a blend of cumin, onion, garlic, and other herbs, and I’ll definitely find many uses for it in my kitchen.

I’m a red wine lover, and I found the Santa Rita Wine red blend to be very smooth and fruity, with hints of spices, vanilla, coffee, and tobacco.  It had a delicious depth of flavor, and I thought that it would complement the dark stone fruit that’s in season right now.  The spicy-sweet cherry plum salsa was the perfect thing to bring this dish together.

The smoky grilled flavor of the pork was plenty here, but I wanted to add even more of that to the dish by grilling the plum as well.  Not only did this add the smokiness I wanted, but I didn’t have to peel the plums beforehand because the peels slip right off after you grill ’em.  I live for shortcuts!

The best part about grilled fruit is how syrupy the juices get, and that sweet, smoky syrup went right into that salsa. I also added pitted cherries, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, and some jalapeno.  I was tasting this salsa along the way as I made it, and honestly, the jalapeno addition is what made it really exciting and balanced everything out.  Sweet and spicy is always where it’s at for me. 🙂

These Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Cherry Plum Salsa are what summer is all about.  No dirty dishes piled up for you to clean, so you can be outside in the beautiful summer weather with a delicious glass of red.

Need I say more?  Go on out there are enjoy that enjoy that grill. 🙂

Want to find out more about Santa Rita Wines?  You can find them on Facebook and Instagram and follow them there!

Grilled Pork Chops with Plum Cherry Salsa

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Grilled Pork Chops with Plum Cherry Salsa are juicy pork chops topped with a sweet and spicy salsa with grilled plums, cherries, and jalapeno. This main dish is light, fresh, and full of summer flavor!

Author: Flavor the Moments

Serves: Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salsa:

• 2 medium plums, halved and pitted
• 1 cup cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup chopped red onion
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime
• salt and black pepper, to taste

For the pork chops:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil (for the grill)
• 4 pork loin chops (about 1" thick)
• Badia seasoning*
• salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the grill to medium and brush the grill grates with the canola oil.
2. Place the plums cut side down on the hot grill and cook about 3 minutes per side or until softened and charred. Remove from the grill and allow to cool. When the plums are cool enough to handle, remove the peel and chop into ½" chunks and place in a small bowl. Add the cherries, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and black pepper, to taste. Set aside to let the flavors meld while the pork chops cook.
3. Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper, followed by a generous amount of the Badia seasoning on both sides.
4. Place the pork chops on the grill and cook 4-5 minutes per side, or until a thermometer reads 150 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chops. Remove from heat, cover loosely with foil, and allow to rest about 8-10 minutes.
5. Serve warm with salsa, and enjoy!

Notes

*Badia seasoning may be found at http://badiaspices.com.
I have a handy cherry pitter that I use to make pitting my cherries so much easier!
You don't have to peel the plums, because once they're grilled, the peels slip right off.
Recipe by Flavor the Moments.

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