Recipe: Honey Garlic Pork Chops with Apple Bacon Broccoli Salad

Honey Garlic Pork Chops with Apple Bacon Broccoli Salad

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• ¼ cup avocado oil
• bacon
• 2 medium shallots (roughly ⅔ cup), thinly sliced
• 2 large broccoli heads
• 1 honeycrisp apple
• 1 granny smith apple
• ⅓ cup dry roasted almonds

Dressing

• 1 large garlic clove
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (roughly 1 large lemon)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sumac
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Pork Chops

• Salt and pepper, to season
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water (or chicken broth)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or any white vinegar)

DIRECTIONS

1. Let’s start with the salad.
2. Cook several strips of bacon until slightly crunchy.
3. While the bacon is cooking, start by peeling the broccoli stems and chop them up along with the florets.
4. Cut the apple into matchsticks and roughly chop the almonds.
5. To a pan, over medium-high heat, once the pan is hot add the avocado oil and shallots to fry. Reduce heat to low and stir to avoid burning for the first 2 minutes. The shallots should be browned and crispy after about 5-7 minutes.
6. Prepare the dressing by combining all ingredients into a bowl.
7. Add the broccoli into a large mixing bowl, add in the fried shallots, chopped bacon, matchstick apples, dressing and mix.
8. Now for the pork chops. To a cast iron pan, add your seasoned pork chops. Sear chops on both sides until golden and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes each side). Transfer to a plate; set aside.
9. Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter in the same pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 
10. Sauté garlic until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the honey, water and vinegar. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook until the sauce reduces down and thickens slightly (about 3-4 minutes), while stirring occasionally.
11. Add the pork chops back into the pan, baste generously with the sauce and broil/grill for 1-2 minutes, or until edges are slightly charred.
12. Plate with the salad & enjoy!