Marinated Pork Chops & Mushrooms and Spring Onions Rice Salad
I made these Marinated Pork Chops with ingredients I had at home. The marinade tenderized the pork chops, while making them extra juicy, infusing them with a sweet and sour flavour.
I have been watching my diet for some time now, so I try and cook lighter but without counting calories. Mostly I cook some grilled meat with a salad, or legumes and ladera but keeping the oil to the minimum.
I wanted to make a side dish to accompany the dish. There were some spring onions, which were very thin and parsley and mushrooms in the refrigerator, which had to be used, so looking in my pantry I had some parboiled rice, vermicelli and cashews so I decided to combine all these ingredients together.
Actually the cooking of this recipe was a combination of the Cypriot pilaf I make with vermicelli and of risotto.
The pilaf was so delicious that you could eat it as a main dish.
Marinated Lemon flavoured Pork Chops
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
- 4 pork chops
Marinade:
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon Greek honey
Directions:
- Marinate the pork chops with all the ingredients, for at least one hour.
- Grill in the oven, for about 15 minutes, on both sides, basting the pork chops with the marinade.
- Serve with rice pilaf as a side.
Mushrooms and Spring Onions Rice Salad
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
- 9 button mushrooms, cut into slices
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bunch 10 thin spring onions, finely chopped (or 2 - 3 regular spring onions)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- ½ cup cashews
- 1 nest thick vermicelli
- 300 grams parboiled rice (less than 2 cups)
- ½ cup white dry wine
- 3 cups vegetable stock (or water)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
Directions:
- Heat the two tablespoons olive oil and sauté the cashews for a minute and then add the vermicelli. Remove to a platter before browning.
- Add the mushrooms and sauté. Remove to a platter and set aside.
- Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil and sauté the garlic with green onions for a few minutes.
- Add the rice and stir for a few minutes.
- Add the wine and mix until absorbed.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add water, lower heat and simmer for fifteen minutes, mixing every now and then.
- Add the lemon zest, cashews and vermicelli and cook for another five minutes.
- Mix in the mushrooms and the parsley.
Marinated Pork Chops & Mushrooms and Spring Onions Rice Salad
The marinade tenderized the pork chops, while making them extra juicy, infusing them with a sweet and sour flavour.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops
Marinade:
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon Greek honey
Instructions
- Marinate the pork chops with all the ingredients, for at least one hour.
- Grill in the oven, for about 15 minutes, on both sides, basting the pork chops with the marinade.
- Serve with rice pilaf as a side.
I am sending the Rice salad, to Lisa of Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen, for this month's event No Croutons Required. The theme for July is grains, featuring a soup or a salad with your favourite grain(s).
Other related posts:
Afelia with Mushrooms and Bulgar Wheat Pilaf
Pilafi Pourgouri (Bulgar Wheat Pilaf)
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
I love this! It looks easy to make and tasty!
Karine's last blog post..Curried Chicken in Cardamom Infused Coconut Sauce
I would love to try the rice salad.....
Ivy, why is it called Salad? How do you define a 'salad'? Salad in China mainly means "vegetables, greens, appetizers", and we eat rice together with some stir-fries, more or less like bread....
Ivy, I hope my question didn't sound too silly to you and other foodies, but I prefer to ask and learn, rather than to pretend that I knew and understood the term.
Thank you!
Angie's Recipes
Angie's Recipes's last blog post..Diced Chicken Southeast Asian Style
A delicious meal!
Cheers,
Rosa
They look sooo good Ivy! I am sure i'll try this salad! And the pork chops...divine!!
Ria's last blog post..Chicken Gold Coin - A perfect party snack!
looks delicious and sounds like more Asian than Greek hehehe...
arfi's last blog post..Oreo Biscuits: A HomeMadeS
Angie, here is what Wikipedia says about salads: "Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes including: green salads; vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads.[1] They include a mixture of cold or hot foods, often including raw vegetables and/or fruits".
Since it has vegetables (cold or hot) in it and grains (rice) I think it falls under this category.
Interesting combination Ivy. My favourite way of cooking is to use up leftovers and dormant vegies in the fridge! You've succeeded really well here. And it's healthy too which is an added bonus!
Peter G's last blog post..Caramelised Fennel Relish with Ouzo
Great tasty rice dish Ivy, sometimes the best food can be the recipes we whip up out of what food we have in.
While the rice salad looks great, my hat goes off to the simple pork marinade. I love the lemon and thyme honey... which sounds really good to me 🙂
Congrats again on your healthy diet, it looks like it's coming along real well.
Adam's last blog post..Pockets of Blue
Yum! Sounds like a very flavourful meal. I love adding mushrooms to my rice dishes, most often I use criminis, but if I am making it for a special occasion I will splurge on some shiitake or oysters.
Great photos, thanks for sharing!
- Brittany
Mushrooms Canada's last blog post..Mushroom Monday Challenge
Thanks for this entry Ivy. I just love mushrooms, so I'm pleased to see a mushroom rice salad. Love the addition of cashews too!
Lisa's last blog post..White Bean Cream of Asparagus Soup
This sounds delicious, Ivy. Love the little crunch from the cashews.
Reeni's last blog post..Caramelized Plums & Croissant French Toast for BSI
I love mushrooms! Sounds really good. Also the addition of vermicilli is very different.
Soma's last blog post..Strawberry Preserve
Love the way the rice is flavored. and nice step by step pictures.
Divya Vikram's last blog post..Watermelon Lemonade
This is somewhat similar to what I did tonight, in the sense that we've just *returned* from vacation and I'm using up things in the fridge until the farmers market tomorrow. Tonight I used a leftover bit of onion, some summer squash, some radishes, and garlic - sauteed them and tossed them with pasta and parmigiano. It was okay!
Yours looks truly delicious, though.
Jen of a2eatwrite's last blog post..On Turning Fifty, part 1: Some special food experiences