Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

This quick and easy Italian Pasta Salad recipe includes grilled pork, Sargento® Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar, and a variety of vegetables.

Four random ingredients and 20 minutes to make a meal. Chopped sounds a lot like what most of face each night when we get ready to prepare dinner. When I am in a situation where I have to pull a couple of random ingredients together to make dinner, I often turn to cheese to pull the meal together. I have found that my kids will forgive me for quite a few vegetables if I have included enough cheese in the recipe. Fortunately in this Chopped at Home Challenge one of the required ingredients is Sargento Cheese!

My other secret for pulling together a quick meal is salad dressing. Salad dressings are versatile and can be used as marinades and sauces. So I began my challenge by making a Zesty Italian Salad Dressing that I could use both to add flavor to the pasta salad and as a quick marinade for the pork loin.

This Chopped at Home Challenge is unique: The theme is grilling. We often think of grilling as a more involved cooking method, but it doesn't have to be long and tedious. You can do most of your food prep while waiting for the coals to be ready. And if you use a timer, you can multi-task and bounce back and forth between the kitchen and the barbecue while the meat is grilling.

Chopped At Home Challenge with Sargento

Theme: Grilling

Required Ingredients: Sargento Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar, Pork tenderloin, cherry or grape tomatoes, broccoli

I am sharing the recipe I created as part of the Chopped at Home Challenge below. You can submit your recipe to FoodNetwork.com/ChoppedChallenge by 8/1/2016 for the chance to win $5,000 and a trip to New York City to compete in a televised Chopped cooking challenge for a $10,000 grand prize!

Italian Pasta Salad Recipe with Pork and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 pound pork loin chops
• 8 ounces rotini
• 3 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup diced yellow pepper
• 1 package Sargento Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar

Italian Salad Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup of olive oil
• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions: 

1. Light the coals.
2. Add the Italian Salad dressing ingredients to a cruet. Stir or shake well to combine.
3. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the dressing over the pork loin chops. Use a basting brush to coat both sides. Let marinate while until the coals are ready. Reserve 1/4 cup of the salad dressing to baste the meat while it is grilling.
4. Gill the pork chops over medium-high heat for 5 – 6 minutes on the first side, and 4 – 5 minutes on the second side. Check to ensure they are cooked through. If they are not, move them to a cooler section of the grill to finish cooking.
5. While the pork chops are grilling, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
6. Cut the cooked pork chops into bite size pieces.
7. Add the cooked pasta, cubed pork, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, pepper, and Sargento cheese. Drizzle 1 cup of the Italian salad dressing over the ingredients and toss to coat.
8. Serve immediately or serve chilled.

Printable Recipe for Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

Italian Pasta Salad with Grilled Pork

 

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Author: Alea

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound pork loin chops
• 8 ounces rotini
• 3 cups chopped broccoli
• 1½ cups sliced carrots
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• ¼ cup diced yellow pepper
• 1 package Sargento Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar

Italian Salad Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup of olive oil
• ¾ cup white wine vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Light the coals.
2. Add the Italian Salad dressing ingredients to a cruet. Stir or shake well to combine.
3. Drizzle ¼ cup of the dressing over the pork loin chops. Use a basting brush to coat both sides. Let marinate while until the coals are ready. Reserve ¼ cup of the salad dressing to baste the meat while it is grilling.
4. Gill the pork chops over medium-high heat for 5 - 6 minutes on the first side, and 4 - 5 minutes on the second side. Check to ensure they are cooked through. If they are not, move them to a cooler section of the grill to finish cooking.
5. While the pork chops are grilling, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
6. Cut the cooked pork chops into bite size pieces.
7. Add the cooked pasta, cubed pork, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, pepper, and Sargento cheese. Drizzle 1 cup of the Italian salad dressing over the ingredients and toss to coat.
8. Serve immediately or serve chilled.

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Give the challenge a try! Create a recipe using Sargento Chef Blends 4 State Cheddar, and the other 3 required ingredients. Then enter the Chopped at Home Challenge where you could win $5,000 and a trip to New York City to compete in a televised Chopped cooking challenge for a $10,000 grand prize!! You can find the Chopped at Home Challenge details here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sargento. The opinions and text are all mine.