Pork cutlets with cucumber salad and sweet chilli dressing

So as a continuation of my commitment to healthy eating this month, I thought I’d share with you all a lovely light meal I prepared this week – pork cutlets served with a cucumber salad and chilli dressing.  It’s relatively simple to prepare and I love that it’s light but satisfying, not to mention wholesomely delicious.

I came across the recipe in Bill Granger’s book, Easy. I love his recipes, which are always full of fresh ingredients that are effortlessly brought together to create delicious dishes. His books are also full of wonderful images that I find so inspirational. 

Don’t fret if you haven’t got the book, the recipe is also published online here by delicious magazine.  I’ve hardly reinvented the wheel with this recipe, but as I’ve made a couple of minor tweaks and serving suggestions, I’ve also included a recipe card with this post.

This is the first meat dish I’ve shared on A Sweet Muddle, which I found a little more challenging to style and photograph than anything else I’ve done to date.  I’d read that photographing meat can be difficult and when put to the test it’s certainly been a learning experience (but a lot of fun as well!)  I hope you find the end results tempting enough to at least give this dish a try yourself.

Have a great weekend x

Pork cutlets with cucumber salad and chilli dressing

2014-01-12 13:44:19

Serves 4

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Total Time

35 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

1. – 4 pork cutlets (approx. 250g each), rind removed
2. – olive oil
3. – 4 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced into ribbons
4. – 1 tsp poppy seeds
5. – 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
6. – small bunch of mint, leaves picked

For the marinade

1. – 3 eschalots, sliced
2. – 1 tbsp ginger, grated
3. – 2 garlic cloves, crushed
4. – a small bunch of coriander (approx. 30g) – leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
5. – 2 tsp soy sauce
6. – 1 tbsp fish sauce
7. – 1 tbsp caster sugar
8. – salt and pepper

For the dressing

1. – 2 tbsp caster sugar
2. – 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3. – 2 tbsp fish sauce
4. – 2 red birds eye chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
5. – 1 tbsp thinly sliced spring onion (scallions)
6. – 1/2 Lebanese cucumber, deseeded and finely diced

Instructions

1. Place all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor and combine to make a paste.
2. Place the cutlets in a shallow, non-metallic dish and coat well with the marinade. Cover and leave in fridge to marinate for at least 15-20 minutes.
3. While the meat is marinating, start on the dressing and cucumber salad.
4. For the dressing, dissolve the caster sugar in a small bowl with the vinegar and fish sauce. Add the chillies, spring onions and diced cucumber and stir well.
5. For the salad, combine the cucumber ribbons, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and mint leaves in a serving bowl (or arrange individually between 4 plates).
6. Preheat a griddled pan (or barbecue) on a medium-high heat, brush lightly with oil and then grill cutlets for approximately 3-4 minutes each side or until cooked.
7. Dress the salad with ½ the dressing and drizzle approximately 1 tbsp of the retained dressing over each cutlet.

Notes

1. Depending on where you live in the world, you may or may not be familiar with Lebanese cucumbers. If you can’t source these, then any small, nearly seedless variety should suffice.

Adapted from Bill Granger

Adapted from Bill Granger

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