Pork chops with mango & peach salsa

This is the dinner that almost didn't happen.

Last week, I bought a perfectly ripened mango and some peaches and decided to make a salsa to go with pork chops. I had trimmed and marinated the chops, made the mango and peach salsa, prepared the baby potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Husband came home around 7pm and said he was hitting the gym and probably wouldn't be having dinner when he returned. Then he walked into the kitchen and saw all the raw ingredients for dinner and apologised for not letting me know of his plans before I went to all this trouble. While I was a bit irked, I did appreciate how hard it was to keep fit, particularly when one hit middle-age, so far be it for me to thwart his endeavours.

And off his went. When he got home around 9.30, he said he was hungry and would like the dinner. So I fired up the grill and pan and within 20 minutes, I came up with two plates of beautiful food. 

Grilled pork chop with mango & peach salsa, served with sautéed Brussels sprouts and crackling, steamed baby potatoes

Ingredients for the salsa

1 large mango, peeled, stoned, and diced
1 peach, (peeled if desired,) stoned, and diced 
1 red chilli, (deseeded if desired and) finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and grated
large bunch of fresh coriander, stalk finely chopped, leaves torn 
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for the marinade

1 tbsp organic honey
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed/grated
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for the pork chops

serves 2
2 pork chops, trimmed
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a non-reactive bowl. Place the pork chops in a dish and pour over the marinade. Allow the chops to marinate for at least 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the salsa by combining all the ingredients in a bowl, season, and taste. Set aside.
3. Preheat the grill or grill pan. Cook the pork chops for 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness.
4. Serve the chops with the salsa and other sides (such as sautéed Brussels sprouts with crackling and steamed baby potatoes).

The combination worked very well. Husband said he was glad he didn't turn down this dinner.