Summertime grilling isn’t just all burgers, brats and dogs. My favorite summer cooking combines something grilled with something fresh and is easily composed in the kitchen. This salad is a favorite of my husband. With crisp greens, savory pork, a little sharpness from the red onion, toasty almonds, creamy and pungent gorgonzola, fruity vinaigrette and sweet-tart dried cherries, the combination is hard not to love. And goodness knows that I love how easy it is to put together!
Pork tenderloin is a lean and crowd-pleasing alternative to the ever-present chicken breast. I like to rub the tenderloin with some hearty, grill-worthy aromatics like fresh garlic, rosemary and coarse black pepper, and let it hang out anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours—whatever kind of time you have is good.
For the dressing, pop some red wine vinegar, tart cherry juice, honey, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, chopped shallots and olive oil into a jar and shake it all up.
While the grill is heating and pork is grilling, rinse and spin your greens, crumble the cheese, toast the almonds and slice up your onions.