Grilled Pork Chops Recipe with Soy Sauce, Cumin, Lime, and Oregano

This is another great pork recipe for grilling, also from Kalyn's Kitchen.

Grilled Pork Chops with Soy Sauce, Cumin, Lime, and Oregano
(Makes 4 thick pork chops, can easily be doubled. Recipe created by Kalyn.)

4 boneless pork loin chops (1 inch thick)

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used Tamari)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (I used Mexican Oregano)
pinch of Chipotle chile powder (or use a dash of hot sauce)
1/2 tsp. onion powder (or use 1-2 tsp. grated fresh onion)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or use 1-2 tsp. freshly minced garlic)
(I rarely use onion powder or garlic powder, but a marinade like this is one place where I think they work well)

Trim all visible fat from pork chops, and pound with meat mallet (or anything heavy) until pork chops are about 3/4 inch thick. Combine marinade ingredients. Put pork chops in a heavy ziploc bag or plastic dish with a lid, then pour marinade over. Let pork chops marinate 4-6 hours in the refrigerator. (They can be marinated all day while you're at work too.)

When you're ready to cook, take pork chops out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature. Whether you're cooking on an outdoor grill or using a stove-top grill pan, spray with non-stick spray or olive oil, then preheat the grill or pan to medium-high before you start to cook. (You can only hold your hand there for a few seconds at that heat.) To get criss-cross grill marks, lay the meat at an angle for 2-3 minutes, then rotate 45 degrees after you have the first set of marks.

Grilling time can vary greatly depending on the temperature of the grill, temperature of the meat, and even air temperature when grilling outdoors. I cooked the pork chops in this photo not quite 5 minutes per side. I highly recommend using an instant-read meat thermometer to tell when they're done, but if you don't have one, the pork chops should feel firm to the touch (not hard). Remember that grilled meats continue to cook for a few minutes when you take them off the grill, and don't overcook.