Pork Chop and Fig Salad
with baby kale / havarti / lemon adobo dressing
Figs are hard to find out of season, so we love to highlight them when the season hits. This simple entree salad lets the flavor and texture of ripe figs really shine.
Smarts: If figs are not in season where you are, halved grapes make an excellent sub.
Ingredients
- Pork chops, boneless - 1 lb
- Cheese, smoked Havarti - 6 oz, cubed (sub any other smoked cheese or goat cheese)
- Figs - 8, halved or quartered (sub grapes, using 4x more than listed)
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Baby kale - 10 oz (sub any type kale, chopped)
- Sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup
- Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, red wine - 1 Tbsp
- Adobo sauce - 1 tsp (opt; usually found in a can of chipotles in adobo)
- Mustard, Dijon - 1 tsp
- Honey - 2 tsp
- Paprika, smoked - 1/2 tsp
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make dressing - Whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, adobo sauce, mustard, honey, and paprika. Add olive oil while whisking. Season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pork chops - Season with some salt and pepper and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Cheese / Figs - Cube cheese. Slice figs in half or in quarters (if using larger figs).
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Make
- Heat a skillet with cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and sear on each side for ~3 minutes. For thin pork chops, this should be enough heat to cook them through. If you’re using thicker pork chops, lower heat and cover with a piece of foil until pork reaches 145F / 63C degrees.
- Transfer pork to a cutting board and cover. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- While pork rests, gently toss together kale, cheese, figs, and sunflower seeds with about half of the dressing.
- Slice pork and serve on top of salad. Add additional dressing over top. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
27 reviews
The flavors were amazing and this was so quick and easy! If you can’t find smoked Havarti, I highly recommend a smoked cheese over the other suggestion of goat cheese (we did smoked gruyere) - the smokiness really complements the smokiness of the dressing.
0 HelpfulA great way to use figs for that week they are in season! This deconstructed nicely for all diets.
0 HelpfulDelicious! It made for a beautiful and tasty presentation. Will make again! I used crumbled goat cheese and used almond slivers and pepitas rather than sunflower seeds. I probably doubled the honey and adobo sauce in the dressing because I really loved the sweet smoky flavor they gave.
0 HelpfulUsed curly kale, goat cheese, red grapes and pumpkin seeds as substitutions. Was wonderful and will make again!
0 HelpfulReally liked the flavor combination, used goat cheese because it's what I had. Looking forward to leftovers.
0 Helpful