Name: Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Warm Lentil Salad
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 (8- to 10-ounce) bone-in pork rib chops, ¾ to 1 inch thick, trimmed; Salt and pepper; 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 cup pitted green olives, halved; 1 shallot, minced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 (15-ounce) cans lentils, rinsed; 6 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered; 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

Why This Recipe Works

Blooming the garlic, shallot, and green olives in oil carries their flavors throughout the lentil salad.

Before You Begin

We developed this recipe with pimento-stuffed green olives, but unstuffed green olives are fine, too.

Instructions

Pat pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add pork and cook until well browned and meat registers 140 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and tent with foil.

Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Add remaining ¼ cup oil, olives, shallot, and garlic to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant and garlic begins to brown, about 1 minute. Stir in lentils and 1 teaspoon salt and continue to cook until just warmed through, about 2 minutes longer. Off heat, stir in tomatoes and parsley. Serve lentil salad with pork.