Barbecued pork chops with barbecued vegetable salad

SERVES 4

When I cooked this recipe I was lucky enough to have organic pork chops and wonderful organic vegetables from Heronswood Gardens on the Mornington Peninsula.

4 garlic cloves, peeled

4 pork chops

MARINADE

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons sichuan pepper, ground using a mortar and pestle

160 ml (5¼ fl oz) dark ale

1 teaspoon sesame oil

SALAD

4 baby beetroot (beets)

4 baby turnips

1 garlic bulb

8 baby carrots

1 bunch of bulb spring onions (scallions)

4 tablespoons olive oil

80 g (2¾ oz) goat’s cheese, crumbled

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

snipped chives, to garnish

For the marinade: Put all the spices in a bowl, mix them all up and then add a splash of beer and the sesame oil and mix again. Dip your finger into the mix and taste it: if you like it, good; if not, work out why and adjust the proportions accordingly.

Either using a mortar and pestle or on your chopping board, smash your peeled garlic with some salt until it is like a paste and then slather this all over the meat. Place the meat into the marinade and make sure the chops are well coated. Set aside while you prepare the vegetable salad.

For the salad: Rub the beetroot, turnips, garlic, carrots and spring onions with half the olive oil and season with salt. Wrap the beetroot, turnips and garlic individually in foil and place on a hot barbecue with a heatproof bowl over them to keep the heat in. Leave them for about 15 minutes or until cooked. Chargrill the carrots and spring onions on the barbecue until they are cooked and nicely coloured.

When the beetroot and turnips are cooked, remove them from the foil, carefully peel then cut in half and place them in a large salad bowl. Add the carrots, spring onions and goat’s cheese to the bowl and squeeze the cooked bulb of garlic so that all of the yummy mushy garlic cloves fall into the salad. Dress with the remaining olive oil and red wine vinegar and toss it all together.

Barbecue the pork chops until cooked about 5–7 minutes each side, or until cooked to your liking.

Put your pork chop on a plate, add a nice portion of salad on the side, garnish with some chives and enjoy!