Michael Symon's Grilled Italian Pork Kabobs (Kabob Week Day 2)

Michael Symon's Italian Pork Kabobs

Welcome to Day 2 of Kabob Week!

So, in all seriousness, my favorite thing about Chef Michael Symon is that he giggles. :-) I was first introduced to him when he was a guest on Paula Deen's cooking show, and she had him giggling like a little girl nearly throughout the entire episode. Since then, he has become one of my favorite TV personalities (and one of my honorary chef boyfriends!). 

I also hate the fact(s) that his show "The Chew" is on daytime TV and that I'm too lazy watch episodes online and that I'm too cheap too buy a DV-R or Tivo. (Which is probably a good thing now that I've started graduate school.) But you better believe that if I'm home during the day, I will be watching "The Chew."

The last time I caught "The Chew," Michael Symon was making Italian pork kabobs that looked so easy and full of flavor; I immediately went online and saved the recipe.

This recipe is really simple and it seems to be fairly versatile. For instance, I bet that you could substitute chicken or beef for the pork. And if you don't like pine nuts, you could probably replace them with pecans or hazelnuts, etc. I also don't usually keep raisins in the house, but I had dried apricots, so I substituted those instead and it worked out perfectly.

I did think that this dish resulted more like a salad than anything else, with the sauce serving as a warm salad dressing-- it's definitely the star of the dish and I could use it as a dressing for any salad. The recipe makes a fair amount of sauce to drizzle and it also gives the meat a beautiful glaze when you pour it over. The orange, lemon, and parsley flavors give this dish a really fresh flavor that I loved.

This dish would be great to impress your friends and family for a quick meal! This is a dish made to serve with a smile.

Michael Symon's Grilled Italian Pork Kabobs

Slightly adapted from The Chew

Ingredients:

1 lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 c. pine nuts
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. golden raisins (soaked in water for 30 minutes and then drained) (I used dried apricots, cut into small pieces)
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Juice and zest of 1 orange
1/2 bunch parsley (leaves only)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb. arugula (I used baby arugula)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. lemon juice
pinch of crushed red pepper chile flakes
salt and pepper

Directions:

Soak skewers in warm water with a sprinkle of salt for at least half an hour.

Skewer the pork tenderloin cubes, and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill or grillpan to medium-high. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until pork is cooked through. (We were having rain, so I cooked this on the stove using a grill pan.)

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the pine nuts and fry. Once golden brown, add the garlic, raisins (or dried apricots), orange zest and Juice, and chili flakes and combine. Remove from heat, add the parsley, and pour the sauce over the skewers to serve.

Toss arugula with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and serve with skewers. (I placed the skewers on top of the arugula, then topped with the sauce. It was like a nice, warm salad!)