black pepper pork chops

with a craveable ramen noodle and veggie salad!!

When George and I lived in Coronado, we would always pick up pre-seasoned black pepper steaks from Boney’s Bayside Market to grill at home for a super easy and delicious dinner. I saw them when we were back in Coronado for spring break last month and it triggered so many memories — I knew I had to work a black pepper marinade into a What to Cook recipe ASAP!

It’s been a minute since I’ve shared a recipe starring pork chops, so I decided to give it a try and wowww, it’s a perfect match. The marinade is simple: fresh lime juice + soy sauce + oil + brown sugar + tons of black pepper. The sugar adds a sweet note to the savory marinade and caramelizes against the heat of the grill, helping the pork chops crisp up to perfection.

The marinade is so good, in fact, that you’ll use it three ways in this one recipe! First, as a marinade for the pork. Second, as a glaze (while the pork chops are resting post-grill, you’ll turn the leftover marinade into a glaze by simmering it on the stovetop). And third, as a dressing for the insanely easy and delicious ramen noodle and veggie salad we’re going to serve our pork with.

If you’re not into pork, you can use steak, chicken, shrimp, tofu… absolutely any protein would be amazing after a dip in this sauce.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again... I love grilling!!! It minimizes clean up, keeps me away from the hot oven during the spring and summer, and lets me sip an al fresco cocktail while George wrangles the kids because *I’m cooking.*

In general, grilling’s very low maintenance. You do, however, need to give your grill a deep clean about once a year — ideally before you start using it regularly again — to get rid of all the caked-on grease that collected last year. If you haven’t given your grill a good cleaning yet this year, DO IT! Here’s a helpful tutorial. You can also Google “how do I deep clean my XYZ grill?” for more specific instructions. Once you’ve given it a deep clean for the season, all you’ll have to do is scrape the grill grates with each use (I typically do this after the grill has pre-heated, before I add the food).

Next Saturday you’ll get my easy-but-fancy summer grilling menu with a special guest, so go ahead and get your grill ready for this excellent meal and that feast too.

Also, here’s my annual reminder of the only grilling tools that are essential, IMO:

• Silicone tongs: I freaking hate those gigantic, unwieldy, stainless steel grill tongs. They are so unnecessary. I just use long silicone tongs, which can fit in a normal drawer easily and can also be used indoors in your nonstick skillets.

• Grill brush: I have tried many grill brushes and this is my current fave.

• Meat thermometer: You do not have x-ray vision! You cannot cook perfectly cooked meat without a meat thermometer.

This week on So Into That, Vivian Tu, AKA Your Rich BFF, dropped all the financial wisdom you didn’t know you needed. From how to not go broke by way of weddings and bachelorette parties, to why you should have a high-yield savings account, to the website that can help you claim hundreds (potentially even thousands!) of dollars that are rightfully yours, and more, we cover so much ground in this one-hour money primer. Click here to listen and see what Vivian’s so into right now. The email also includes ways to love on your people that don’t cost a dime (crowdsourced from you guys!) and a few things the WTC team is currently loving.

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black pepper pork chops with ramen noodle veggie salad

Serves 4

Cook time: ~45 minutes

Tools:

• Grill (or a cast-iron skillet if you don’t have a grill — see notes section for the cooking how-to)

• Silicone tongs

• Large pot

• Large bowl

• Whisk

• Microplane

• A shallow dish

• Grill brush

• Meat thermometer

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice plus 2 teaspoons lime zest (from 2 limes)

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup neutral oil