Chipotle Grilled Pork Chops

Any plans for the long weekend? I started talking about it yesterday - Monday - which is going to make this feel like a loooong week.  KK will be a groomsman for the first time this weekend in the wedding of his oldest friend from middle school.  After the wedding festivities, we're heading down to my brother-in-law's house to meet the newest additions to the family.  I cannot wait to become an aunt!! With that being said, I'm admittedly slightly terrified of holding a newborn for the first time.  There's a first time for everything though, right?

We changed it up a bit and had pork instead of chicken.  KK bought pork (on sale) for the Cinnamon Spiced Pork Skewers I made for camping in July, and there was a little meat to spare that he was determined to find use for.  The pork had already thawed in a plastic Ziploc bag, so I poured the remaining marinade ingredients into the bag, squished everything around to ensure all of the ingredients were blended, and marinated for 6 hours in the refrigerator.  You can get by with only an hour of soaking, but your meat may get mushy if you marinate for more than 8 hours because of the citrus in the orange juice.  If you want to make the dish less spicy, reduce the amount of chipotle in adobo you use, and make sure the seeds are removed from the pepper.  Depending on the temperature of your grill, the pork should cook in 8-10 minutes.  Watch the meat carefully as it cooks to ensure it doesn't overcook and become overly chewy.  If you don’t already have one, I strongly suggest investing in a meat thermometer; it’s recently become one of my favorite cooking tools.  According to Food Safety, the pork will be cooked and safe to eat once the internal temperature reaches 145 °F.  I served the pork with a side of Chicken & Garlic Rice-a-Roni, and a mix of peas and corn. Yum!

Chipotle Grilled Pork Chops
Adapted from Plain Chicken
Time: 15 minutes + marination time (1-8 hours)
Serves 2

Ingredients
¾ lb. pork chop, 2 pieces
1 ½ Tbsp pureed chipotle in adobo

½ cup orange juice
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 ½ tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions 
1. Place pork in a plastic Ziploc bag; add chipotle, orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper to the bag.  Squish all ingredients together to thoroughly coat the pork.  Marinate in the refrigerator 1 to 8 hours.

2.  Heat a grill or grill pan to medium.  Grill pork 4-5 minutes per side.  Let meat rest 5 minutes before serving.