What would you make with this main?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think creamy polenta with Parmesan sounds amazing.

But, honestly, given the richness of the main (which sounds amazing), I would rethink your menu a bit. You want the full plate to hit all the taste points, and you’re missing a brightness/acid element that will take your meal to the next level.

I would do pork chops as described on top of creamy polenta, and pair that with a bright, lemony kale Cesar (dinosaur kale cut into ribbons and massaged with EVOO, lots of fresh lemon juice and zest, some anchovy paste, salt and pepper + some shaved part and maybe a small handful of dried currants). Then you’ll have all the pieces for a rockstar meal.

Except for the caesar/anchovy paste part, I agree that a massaged dino/lacinato kale salad with a citrus vinaigrette would be sturdy enough to stand up to the main but acidic enough to help offset the heavy/creamy/cheesy pork chops and polenta. I'd also consider adding a citrus fruit to the salad, like blood orange slices, and some toasted slivered almonds or chopped roasted pistachios for crunch since your main will be meaty plus cheesy and your polenta will be mushy/cheesy, so having something with crunch on the salad sounds good to me for a textural contrast.

Something along these lines: https://sunkissedkitchen.com/kale-salad-blood-orange/
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/7886741/citrus-kale-salad/

Except I always de-stem my kale and roll the leaves up in a bundle to slice them chiffonade-styel as I like smaller ribbons rather than big chunks of kale in my massaged kale salad. I'd leave the grated parmesan off the salad.

[Anonymous]

Too rich. I would just serve a good bread or add large croutons to the salad. Or just pork chops no filling with polenta. I would do. More acidic salad - maybe capers or balsamic- something to cut through the fat.

[Anonymous]

My DH likes black eyed peas to go with pork chops.
So we usually have black eyed peas with pork chops.
And spinach.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks everyone for the input! We made it with Caesar salad (not kale, as we have a kale-averse person in the household) and polenta and it was divine. Highly recommend the recipe - it takes a bit of time/is a bit fiddly but very impressive.

[Anonymous]

I think a cheese polenta and a cheesy Caesar salad are too heavy since you have ricotta in the pork chop. I would say an orzo salad and roasted broccolini would be better