Are you ready to impress? And I mean, impress anyone? I impressed the boyfriend, but Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli will work on your parents, your hard-to-impress in-laws, and your know-it-all foodie friends. And if you want to really, really want to impress, You've got access too is even better!
And this is how I know:
Wednesday night has been deemed Date Night, and every Date Night I offer to cook. I almost always, like 95 percent of the time, get a, “No, no. Let’s go out tonight.” I used to think that the boyfriend was being a real sweetheart. He’s taking the pressure off, treating me to dinner, letting me relax!
But then things changed. Last Date Night, I convinced him to let me take over the kitchen. I rolled up my sleeves and made Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli. We devoured every bite of juicy, tender pork as if we would never eat again. Truth be told, we ate the entire pound of pork between the two of us. And then we finished the meal by licking garlic-dill aioli off our plates. (Okay, so we were pretty stuffed at the end of this particular Date Night, but zero regrets!)
Now, Wednesday night is Date Night, and so is Friday and Saturday and Sunday and Monday and it’s no longer, “Let’s go out,” but, “What are you making this time?”
Don’t get me wrong. Overflowing Date Nights pleases me to no end because A. I love to cook and B. I love compliments. (Oh yeah, and C. I love spending time with the boy.) He has discovered that he can have a chef-inspired, restaurant-quality meal sitting in his own home because I’ve got access to the easy, original recipes developed by Smithfield Prime chef partners. (Oh hey, don’t be jealous. You've got access too.)
I started with Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli, but I’m using Smithfield’s chef-inspired recipes to plan out all of my Date Nights. It’s easy to create delicious meals when you start with high-quality, all-natural, premium fresh pork. Smithfield Prime is hand-trimmed, with superior color and marbling, and it contains no artificial ingredients, growth promotants, added hormones, or steroids.
If you’re in Chicago, you can find Smithfield Prime at your Mariano’s. Look for tenderloin, boneless loin, spareribs, boneless chops, bone-in chops, sirloin, shoulder butts, and roasts. With so many choices, the options are literally endless.
Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli
Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli is an impressive, yet easy, restaurant-quality meal. You will devour each bite of juicy, tender pork and then you will lick garlic-dill aioli off your plate. Or at least that’s how it happened for me. For more information and chef-inspired recipes, visit www.smithfield.com. Adapted from a recipe by Paul Virant ©2017 Smithfield Foods.
Ingredients
For the pork loin:
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 onion diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound Smithfield® Prime Pork Loin cut into 8 thin slices
For the garlic-dill aioli:
- 3/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon dill pickle liquid
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill weed
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the vegetables:
- 2 medium zucchini squash washed and cut in half lengthwise
- 1 medium head romaine washed and cut in half lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lemon halved
Instructions
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To make marinade, combine vegetable oil, honey, onion, garlic powder, cayenne, and black pepper in food processor and pulse until smooth. Transfer to a resealable food storage bag. Add pork slices and massage to coat. Marinate for one hour or overnight.
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Make the garlic-dill aioli. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, garlic, dill pickle liquid, and dill weed. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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When ready to cook, heat grill to medium-high. Brush zucchini and romaine with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Grill zucchini about 2 minutes per side and romaine halves 1 minute per side. Squeeze lemon juice over vegetables as they finish grilling.
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Spread a heaping spoonful of garlic-dill aioli on 4 serving plates. Chop the grilled romaine and divide evenly between plates, placing on top of mayonnaise. Place 1 zucchini half on top of romaine for each plate.
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Remove pork slices from marinade and grill 1 to 2 minutes per side until in tender. Place 2 slices on each plate. Garnish with lemon wedges.
This sponsored post for Pork Loin with Summer Vegetables and Garlic-Dill Aioli is written by me on behalf of Smithfield Prime.
