Herby Couscous Salad with Hot Honey Lemongrass Pork Belly Skewers

Yields 3-4 servings

Pairing fatty, juicy pork belly with a refreshing, herby salad creates a well-balanced dish by simply including contrasting textures and flavors that mesh so well together. The couscous salad dressing is a simple combination of only 4 ingredients and can be easily shaken together in a few minutes. The pork belly is marinated uses a surprise ingredient: Coca-Cola. The acid helps tenderize the meat while the sugars help with browning. Even without a grill, this marinade imparts a slight smoky charred note once cooked, bringing extra depth to the entire dish.

This recipe was created in partnership with Graza as part of our Salads with Friends Instagram video series.

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Assembly

Step 1
Cut pork belly into small slices (approximately 1” x ½“ x ½”). Carefully thread pork belly onto the skewers on the longest side of each piece, so that the layers are facing out. Set aside in a rimmed dish, container, or resealable bag.

Step 2
Blend marinade ingredients together with an immersion blender until mostly smooth. Pour overtop of prepared skewers and let marinade for 30 minutes.

Step 3
Meanwhile, prepare vinaigrette by whisking ingredients together. Cook couscous according to instructions and prepare snap peas, cucumber, herbs, and shallots. Combine vinaigrette with salad ingredients and set aside.

Step 4
Heat a cast iron skillet or grill over medium high heat. Wipe off any large chunks of lemongrass and shallot from pork belly skewers and lightly pat dry. Add olive oil to pan and cook skewers until nicely browned and cooked through. Serve with prepared couscous salad and lemon wedges.

Ingredients

Hot Honey Lemongrass Marinade

¾ cup Coca-Cola

1 Shallot, sliced

4 cloves Garlic, chopped

3 (5-10”) stalks Lemongrass, sliced

1 ½ tsp Fish sauce

1 tbsp Hot honey

1 tbsp Graza Sizzle EVOO (plus extra for cooking)

Heavy pinch Black pepper, ground

Salt, to taste

Apricot Vinaigrette

2 tsp Triple Garlic Shortcut Sauce

¼ of a Lemon, juiced

1 tbsp Apricot jam

¼ cup Graza Drizzle EVOO

~700 g Pork belly

1 cup Israeli/pearl couscous

Snap peas, sliced

Cucumber, cubed

Assorted fresh herbs (mint, parsley, dill), chopped

Shallot, minced

Lemon wedge (garnish)

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