The combination of sweet and savory vinaigrette served with the perfect roasted potatoes and to-die-for pork chops.
Ok!!! I must admit that is a long title for a recipe. Are you ready for a challenge? Please help me shorten it.
I take almost a daily trip to my local grocery store to purchase our vegetables.
Subscribe to Cooking Canva!
Get my FREE email series: 5 Days of Easy Elevated Recipes plus a weekly newsletter!
The watercress salad looked beautiful and fresh. I have wanted to introduce watercress to my little tribe for a while now, and here it was, ready to be taken home.
As I turned around to place the salad in the cart, the bin with small gorgeous golden nuggets, all one size, filled the potatoes bin to the rim.
I love potatoes; if allowed, they will grace my every meal.
Dinner was coming along in my head.
So excited to have the fresh watercress for dinner instead of our regular spring mix salad.
Change is a great thing when it comes to dinner.
On the other hand, my family has a hard time with change, and the watercress was not high on their list of prospects of new food concepts.
This dinner is effortless to prepare and quite open to letting your imagination go wild and creative.
Ingredients needed to make this delicious recipe of pork chops with oven-roasted potatoes
Red wine vinegar – brings the acidity of this dish to a new level. Use good red wine vinegar and French if possible, as they are richer in body.
Dijon mustard – with the honey makes the perfect balance to the sauce
Honey – created the perfect balance of sweetness against the sourness of the mustard and vinegar
Fresh thyme – the herb of choice with pork chops, not overpowering, yet very balanced
Olive oil – for the dressing
Red Potatoes – make sure they are all the same size for even cooking.
Watercress – I love the tenderness of this salad and yet so flavorful
Blue cheese – or gorgonzola cheese, when blended with warm potatoes, is the perfect amount of melting to give the salad a deeper flavor
Arugula salad – is a salad that will not wilt when mixed with warmer elements, in this case the potatoes. Bitter in flavor and yet so easy to enjoy with all dressing and recipes.
Bone in pork chops – the most flavorful of meat in my book. Ensure you score the outer fat skin to allow it to cook evenly and not curl up.
Equipment needed
I only recommend what I use and love
Medium bowl – for mixing your par-boiled potatoes
Small bowl – to create your vinaigrette
Whisk – to prepare your vinaigrette
Large pot – large enough to boil the potatoes
Chef’s knife
Cookie sheet
Platter – for the salad
Skillet – oven and stoveproof to cook your pork chops, ensure that your chops have room around them so they can cook evenly. Since the chops will go in the oven for five minutes, ensure your skillet is oven-proof.
Oven mitten – You will need them to remove the skillet from the oven.
Aluminum foil – to tend your chops so they stay warm and not dry out.
Variations and suggestions
Nuts and sliced pears can be added. Or dried cranberries or raisins.
I used blue cheese because I love it and always have some in the refrigerator drawer.
However, some shaved pecorino would be excellent with it also.
Parboiling the potatoes will help you cut time on the cooking process.
Vinaigrette takes less than 2 minutes to assemble and can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Do not rely on my pictures, which are far from giving credit to the great flavor of the dish.
If you enjoy this wonderful recipe of pork chops and roasted potatoes, you may want to try:
Honey Balsamic Pork Chops – Savory & Super Delicious
Pork Chops with Roasted Potatoes & Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tbsp thyme, chopped
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 16 small red potatoes, same size red potatoes
- 8 ounces watercress, chopped
- ½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
- ⅓ arugula salad, finley sliced
- 4 pork chops, 8 ounces each
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degree.
Vinaigrette
- Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, honey and thyme in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil and whisk until emulsified.
Potato salad
- In a large salted pot of water, boil the potatoes until cooked through but not soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool off with cold water to be handle them.
- Cut them in half, place them in a bowl with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Place them in a cooking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes in the hot oven
- Arrange the watercress on a platter, top with the potatoes and drizzle vinaigrette over the top. Add your crumbled blue cheese over the salad. serve immediately.
Chops
- Season with salt, pepper and fresh chopped thyme.
- Cook on medium high heat for 4 minutes on each side. Each side should be a golden crust. Place in the hot oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven, give it a nice last searing on the stove. Turn heat off and cover with aluminum foil.
- Transfer to a platter and spoon vinaigrette over each serving
Nutrition
Cooking Canva provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.
- Course: Dinners, Pork
- Cuisine: French
- Type: Under 45 minutes
Did you make this?
Leave a comment below and tag @cookingcanva on Instagram
