Chili marinated pork with black bean salsa

This is another recipe I adapted from a recipe in Steven Raichlen's Healthy latin cooking. I like the recipes in that book, but they are time consuming. This actual recipe wasn't very time consuming. It was actually easy. I did make the black bean salsa to go with it. It was good, but a bit more time consuming to chop everything up. However, it was so pretty to look at with the different colors. Then I added corn and lime rice as other sides. The corn, lime rice, and black bean salsa got mixed on my plate by the end with a few pomegranate seeds. Yum. I actually stored the left over salsa, rice, and corn together as a pilaf and had it for lunch yestarday. YUM! The modifications I made to this recipe were mostly to cut down spiciness. I'd give the pork a 4 star, the salsa alone a 4 star, and the pilaf a 5 star.


Pork ingredients

• 4-6 boneless pork loin chops
• 1/2 teaspoon chipolte seasoning
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3 Tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• sour cream
• 1 pomegranate, broken into individual seeds
  

Directions

In a blender combine chipolte seasoning, oregano, allspice, garlic, shallot, orange juice, lime juice, and vinegar. Puree until smooth.

Cover pork with marinade in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours.

After marinating, grill 4 inches from the heat for 6-8 minutes or until 160 on a meat thermometer. To serve, place black bean salsa on a plate. Place pork chop in the middle, top with sour cream and pomegranate seeds.

Black Bean Salsa Ingredients

• 2 cups rinsed and drained black beans
• 2-3 slices of a large red onion - about 1/3-1/2 cup diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno chile seeded and minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 3 Tablespoons lime juice
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon pepper
  

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss to mix. (Chopping all the ingredients sure is time consuming, but doesn't it make a pretty picture?)

I've posted lime rice before, but it is easier to just type it in again than to look for a link right now because it is so simple.

Lime rice Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups long grain rice
• Juice of 6 limes
• chicken stock
• 1/8-1/4 cup cilantro - I used less today than I normally do

Directions

I make this in my rice cooker. I add the rice, cilantro and the juice of the limes, and then fill it up the the appropriate line with chicken stock. If making in a pan, just substitute water with lime juice and chicken stock.

To make a tasty pilaf - mix salsa, rice, and 1 can corn, heated and drained. Yummy and pretty.