Meat and Potatoes (Warm Potato and Arugula Salad, That Is)

I was looking up recipes that involved potatoes (there were a few in this week's farm shipment) and was intrigued by the idea of using roasted potatoes in a salad. Arugula can stand up to a warm salad component for a little while, at least, so I thought this worked well. The crisp outside and soft inside of the roasted pieces of potato complemented the crisp arugula and paper-thin onion slices. Unlike the last time I made pork, this time I also made a simple sauce using the pork pan juices, white wine and lemon juice - the acid went nicely with the salad, which also had a similar tang thanks to the dijon mustard vinaigrette. The pork was thicker than the last time I made it, so I overcompensated the cooking time, but the time below should be just right (for a piece that's about one-inch thick). Tweaked this recipe for the potatoes and used this one for the pork sauce.



Makes two servings
Total time to cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the salad
2 small-medium white potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
4-5 cups arugula
1/4 cup onion sliced paper-thin
1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 tbsp extra
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the pork
Two boneless pork chops
1/4 cup white flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp margarine (I added some olive oil by mistake, which is why the top of the pork in the photo above looks almost fried)
1/2 cup white wine
Juice from 1/2 to a whole lemon
1 tsp drained capers

Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spread the potatoes across it.

- Pour the two tablespoons of oil over the potatoes and mix them around until fully coated. Season with the salt and pepper.
- Roast for about 30 minutes, or until the outsides start to brown.

- In the meantime, heat the margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, dredge in the flour (coat both sides with a thin layer) and cook on each side for about four minutes.

- Keeping the heat on, remove the pork to a plate and cover with tin foil.
- Add the wine, lemon juice and capers to the pan. Stir and make sure to mix in the pork bits that are still stuck to the bottom of the pan (the wine will loosen them up).

- Boil the wine mixture until it reduces and the texture thickens a little.
- While the sauce is boiling, the potatoes should be about done. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, mustard and vinegar. In a large bowl, mix the arugula, onions, potatoes and dressing.
- Plate the salad with the pork. Pour the sauce over the pork and serve immediately.