My mom has always been known by my friends as the free food lady. I’m not sure how she feels about that, but it’s the truth! She works for a food distributing company, and her house is always FULL of samples. Full as in she has 2 deep freezers and an extra fridge, on top of the one in the kitchen… not to mention a living room full of boxes of buffalo sauce, honey, spice packets…

Since I started the food blog, she’s been loyally reading and always excited whenever one of her companies’ products shows up. Recently she sent me a goodie box of samples so that I  could play my own version of Chopped. Included in the box was a cookbook from one of her big companies, McCormick.

I love cook books with lots of pictures, and this one fits the bill with a photo for each and every recipe. As I perused the book, I saw several intriguing recipes, but one in particular caught my eye. Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops with Summertime Salsa.

I think it was the raspberries that drew me in. I’m loving summer and berries are definitely part of the season. Plus the recipe included fresh mint, and since I recently bought a mint plant I look for any opportunity to use it!

Grilled Pork Chops w/ Summer Salsa

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tsp chopped fresh mint (I used half mint, half basil)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 peaches or 3 nectarines, peeled and diced
• 4-6 boneless pork chops
• spice rub
• 1 cup raspberries

In a bowl, mix orange juice, mint (and/or basil), vinegar and cinnamon. Add peaches and toss to coat. Set aside.

Rub spice mix evenly on both sides of pork chops.

I used some samples my mom sent me! A sweet basil, citrus and garlic rub. The basil and citrus sounded like it would go perfect with my salsa.

Heat grill to medium. Grill the pork chops 4-7 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until desired doneness.

Gently toss raspberries with peach mix.

Serve with pork chops!

This was so yummy! We never really have pork because… well, we never really think of it, I guess. So it was a very nice change. Nick was nervous about grilling it and over-cooking it, but it came out just perfectly. I wasn’t sure if the fruit salsa would be too sweet and cinnamon-y, but it was awesome with the salty rub! And I have to say, this may just be the prettiest dish I’ve ever made!

Stay tuned to see what I make with the rest of the goodie box!