This simple, colorful, healthy meal comes together in a snap and is elegant enough for entertaining.

My in-laws have birthdays that are 2 days apart, so we usually celebrate both of their birthdays together.

This year, I wanted to make a home-cooked meal, but I didn’t have time to get too fussy with it since we were celebrating on a busy weeknight.

This quick & easy pork recipe from the August issue of Cooking Light was exactly what I needed. The bright green “magic” sauce gets its vibrant color from a mix of capers, cilantro and green onions. Multi-colored cherry tomatoes add even more color to the plate. It just screams summer!

I love the use of green onions in 3 different ways (in the sauce, cooked with the tomatoes and raw as garnish). In the magazine, they have some good suggestions for other ways to use the sauce, and I’d love to try ’em out!

I served this pork with the Fresh Corn Sauté with Red Pepper and Onions from the same issue, and we had DOVEBARS with Whipped Coconut Cream + Maple Cinnamon Toasted Coconut Chips for dessert. Everything was a huge hit!

I will say that if you’re making this for 4 hungry adults, you may want to make extra. I ended up cooking up 6 pork chops (leaving the rest of the recipe as is) and I think we could have handled a little more. Or maybe with a side of rice or crusty bread. It’s definitely on the lighter side for my family. Delicious, but definitely could have eaten a little more of it. This would also be good made with thicker, bone-in pork chops, but that would make it take longer to cook. I loved how quickly this meal came together!

Pork Medallions with Scallions and Magic Green Sauce

Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 Servings 1x

Description

This simple, colorful, healthy meal comes together in a snap and is elegant enough for entertaining.

Scale

Ingredients

1 small jar capers
1 cup packed chopped fresh cilantro (1 bunch)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon water
2 bunches green onions, divided
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
16 heirloom cherry tomatoes (red and yellow), halved

Instructions

Spoon 1 tablespoon caper brine and 2 tablespoons drained capers into the bowl of a mini food processor. Add cilantro, 3 tablespoons oil, and 1 tablespoon water. Chop green onions to measure 3 tablespoons. Add 3 tablespoons green onions to cilantro mixture; process until smooth.
Cut remaining onions diagonally into 2-inch pieces. Cut 8 pieces lengthwise into slivers; set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork and 2-inch onion pieces; cover and cook 4 minutes. Turn pork over. Add tomatoes; cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Arrange pork mixture on a platter. Drizzle with sauce; sprinkle with slivered onions.