Southwestern Pork Chop

I have said before that my wife will often choose an entree at a restaurant based on the sides it comes with.  So this was no exception.  She had picked out a delicious Southwestern Corn & Bean Salad to make for dinner with a homemade dressing.  She said I should pick out a meat to grill to go with her salad.  There was no mistake about it, her salad was going to be the main attraction.

So I ditched my normal seasoning/marinade recipe for a southwestern-inspired flair.  I still used my go-to combination of mustard powder and cayenne pepper.  I really, really like those two together on a pork chop.  But instead of pairing them with soy sauce and either honey or brown sugar, I opted to give this a flavor profile that would pair nicely with the salad she was making.  So I used fresh lime juice and cumin.

Once I was trying to make my own taco seasoning, and I was trying to figure out what that signature flavor is.  It's cumin.  I have never used cumin when grilling a meat before. So this was experimentation for sure.  I was hoping it would pair with the acidity from the lime juice and the heat from the cayenne pepper.  And I have to say, it was a very nice combination.  I finished the seasoning with a little bit of onion powder and some black pepper.  But cumin and lime were the most pronounced flavors when we bit into it.

I use a very high heat initially on the grill to get some nice grill marks and to sear in the moisture and flavor.  We used butterfly chops, so they cook pretty quickly.  Be sure not to overcook them or they will be very dry.

I topped it with some of the corn, black beans, tomato, and red pepper from the salad.  I think it all worked really nicely together.