Cilantro Ginger Pork Chops

This is one of our favorite meals. Enjoy!

Cilantro Ginger Pork Chops

1 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup grated ginger (peel skin with potato peeler before using a box grater)
2 TB soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
coarse salt and pepper

Marinade chops in the refrigerator (in a ziploc bag) for 2-3 hours. Throw them on the grill for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Note: Reserve a little marinade and toss into a bowl with potato wedges and a little extra olive oil. Roast on 425 for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. The size of your potato wedges will determine the cooking time--small wedges = less time in the oven; large wedges = more time in the oven.

*I also like reserving a little of the marinade to brush on the pork chops after they are done cooking.

Recipe compliments of Stephmodo.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

Any Cafe Rio fans out there? I love it and crave their salads. I was pretty disappointed to find that there aren't any here in Washington. My friend Eryn was nice enough to give me this recipe, which is supposed to be the actual pork salad recipe. The dressing is delicious. Make it tonight. [The picture above is actually not of this exact recipe, but of a similar chicken taco salad. I was so excited about the salad, I forgot to take a picture. I will replace this one when I make it again.]

Meat:
About 1 1/2 lbs. Pork tenderloin (you can also use chicken if you prefer)
1 cup salsa
1-1 1/2 cups brown sugar
Cook in crock pot about 5 hours on low, cut fat off and shred.

Creamy Cilantro dressing:
Put the following in a blender and blend until smooth:
3 fresh tomatillos quartered
1 package Ranch buttermilk dressing mix (or regular Ranch mix if you can't find buttermilk)
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup buttermilk (or put 1 Tbsp of lemon juice in 1/2 cup of regular milk and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the other ingredients)
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 a jalapeno or Serrano pepper, no seeds

(If you have extra dressing, you can put it in a ziplock and freeze it for next time.)

Pico de Gallo recipe:
6-8 small tomatoes diced up
1 small onion diced up or half a medium onion
1 small jalapeno chopped as small as possible,
no seeds, start with half and add the second half after you've
tasted the salsa for hotness.
about 12 sprigs of cilantro chopped up finely
about a 1/2 tsp. salt
juice from 1/4 a lime or more
1 clove garlic minced (or about 1 tsp. if using minced garlic from a jar)
juice from half a lime. or about 2 -3 tsp.

Put everything together and taste to see if you need to add more of anything.

Guacamole:
Mash up the following:
2 ripe avocados
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. Tabasco or 1-2 Tbsp. salsa

While you're making everything, cook up some rice.

To serve, pile on a plate in the following order:
Romaine lettuce
beans and rice
pork
a scoop of pico de gallo
a scoop of guacamole
crumbled tortilla chips
dressing

You can also serve these as burritos instead of a salad.