Saturday, November 14, 2009

Grilled Lemon Herb Pork Chops


The more we eat pork, the more fond I am becoming of it! (Especially the affordability...I found these really nice assorted pork chops for $.97/lb at Kroger last week!) As I typically do, I doubled the marinade ingredients and I allowed the pork chops to marinate for a good 24 hrs. I think one of my major "turn-offs" regarding pork in the past has been that it always seemed to dry out so easily. Now that we've gotten the hang of watching our cooking times more closely, we've really found that we enjoy incorporating it into our meal rotation more regularly. This is a great, quick, weeknight meal--especially if you marinate the pork ahead of time, which I would highly suggest...they were absolutely delicious! Also, if you are grilling them, make sure to check them after the 5-7 minutes on each side to avoid overcooking them. Several reviewers on Allrecipes.com said that they actually broiled and/or baked theirs, so that's always an alternative if you don't care to go outside in the dead of winter! I haven't personally tried them that way, so I can't attest to the exact cooking times, but just to give you a rough estimate, one reviewer said she used 3/4 inch center cut pork chops and broiled them on each side for 5 minutes and then covered them with foil and baked them for an additional 10 minutes at a lower temperature. If any of you try them baked/broiled, please let me know how they turn out!

Grilled Lemon Herb Pork Chops

1/2 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops

Directions

In a large resealable bag, combine lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Place chops in bag, seal, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Turn bag frequently to distribute marinade.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Remove chops from bag, and transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan. Bring marinade to a boil, remove from heat, and set aside.

Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill pork chops for 5 to 7 minutes per side, basting frequently with boiled marinade, until done.

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes

13 comments:

  1. The past few years I have found I really enjoy pork too. Lean pork is actually very healthy, so that good!! These look great :)

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  2. Those sound good! Love the new blog look!!

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  3. I like the idea of doubling the marinade and increasing the time to marinate. The combination of ingredients looks just perfectly tantalizing!

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  4. It looks delicious, but my country self is having a hard time putting lemon with pork...I'm gonna have to try it!

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  5. These look delicious, Rachel. I enjoy having pork chops often as it's quick to cook and on sale alot.

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  6. Sounds like a delicious way to prepare pork chops. BTW, I have an award for you on my blog from a few posts back, last wed maybe?

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  7. fantastic! we love pork chops too!

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  8. Yumm... I too am starting to have a greater appreciation for pork. Just love it in a marinade such as this. Your recipe sounds very, very good! Thank you for posting this.

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  9. Your blog is super cute and everything looks so delicious!!

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  10. Yummy! I would love these...my husband, not so much. He has an aversion to lemon, darn it! Good deal on the chops! I so miss my Kroger store. I'm like you, I always marinate the meat longer than recommended. It's better that way. : )

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  11. Sound like the would be delicious! Yum!

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  12. That looks a great way to enjoy pork :)

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