Pork Chops with Watermelon and Pineapple Salsa

I don't adapt to change that well and I don't like pork chops at all, but when I saw this from the June 2008 issue of Yummy Magazine, it really made me want to cook it, even if I found it weird at first to have a sweet fruit combined with savory meat. It was something new, yet it built up an interest. It took a while before I got to cook this, because it needed both the red and the yellow kinds of watermelon, and if I buy both, it meant me buying two watermelons, and it would crowd our small fridge.

A gleam of light came when the family passed by the SM Hypermarket in SM Fairview (there are 2 grocery shops in this mall and we usually go on the other one) and I saw their salad station having both the yellow and red watermelon slices. I decided to just put some in a container, enough for me to cook this.




Pork Chops with Watermelon and Pineapple Salsa
{serves 4}

Ingredients (Pork Chops):

• 4 thick cut pork chops, at least 1/2 inch thick cuts
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt and pepper
• oil for pan frying, about 4 tablespoons

Ingredients (Salsa):

• 1 tablespoon chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped red watermelon
• 1/3 cup chopped yellow watermelon
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon chopped red onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

How to Cook:

• Dredge pork chops in flour and seasonings.
• Pan fry until done. Keep warm while preparing the salsa.
• Toss all salsa ingredients together and serve with the pork chops.

Notice one key ingredient missing? The dish is called Pork Chops with Watermelon and Pineapple Salsa, yet the ingredients list didn't have any pineapples in there. Well, good thing we had some crushed pineapple left from the last time I used it, so I added some in the salsa, just to add a different flavor.

Savory sweet. The salsa gave the meat a refreshing treatment, and it just tasted good. A very perfect summer dish, but if you will prepare this, be sure to serve it right away because the salsa can be very watery as the minutes go by. Also, just prepare enough salsa because any leftover won't be really good, even if you put it in the fridge.

*** Jenn ***