Greek Salad and Oregano Pork Skewer

For this skewer, you’re going to make long strips of pork about 1” wide and 1⁄4” thick. It’s a little bit different than you may have done before. If you have a pork loin, make the first cut along the entire length of the loin (opposite to how you’d make a pork chop shape) and use a long thin knife to slice it ¼” thick. Keep cutting until you have a bunch of “sheets” of the pork loin. You can then stack these up and cut them into 1” wide strips that will be long and thin.

If you purchased pork chops, lay the first one down on a cutting board and hold the knife on an angle. Slice from the top, off the edge of the of the chop (very sharp angle - your knife is almost parallel to the cutting board!) Repeat with the next strip and it will be a little easier to see the correct shape slice, about 1” wide and thin. Keep cutting strips off of the side of the chops.

Place the pork in a bowl and add 1 Tablespoon olive oil, the zest of the lemon, dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir gently to coat.

Mentally divide the pork into however many skewers you plan to make. For a unique presentation, we like one long skewer per person, but if you only have short ones you can do two.

Hold a long skewer and thread the end of one of the strips on. Weave the strip back and forth on to the point, folding the meat over itself. When the whole strip is threaded on, you can slide it back down a bit and repeat.

Heat a large sauté pan or grill pan over high heat. Scrape any leftover oil from the marinade bowl on to the skewers, then place them in the pan. Cook in the very hot pan for about 2 minutes on each side, rotating when it’s nice and golden brown.

Remove to a plate until ready to serve.

Get a large bowl ready. Juice the lemon into the bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon honey. Whisk in 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Use your highest quality olive oil for this part.

Dice the cucumber into small cubes. Dice the tomato into wedges. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Drain the olives and cut then in half. Drain some pepperoncini to taste and cut them if you prefer.

Slice the bell pepper into large rings. When you get near the top, the seeds and membrane will be connected, you can easily pluck these out with your fingers.

Stack and slice basil leaves.

Toss the salad gently to coat in dressing.

Slice the feta into a large square, about 1 ounce each. If you have softer, crumbly feta it’s ok to just crumble it in.

Place a big portion of salad. Top with a square of feta. Add a skewer to each plate. Drizzle the feta and pork with a bit of olive oil and a fresh turn of black pepper. Pluck out nice looking pieces of the salad to sit on top and really go for it on presentation!