Palate-pleasing pork chops

One thing I rarely make is pork chops. I'm not sure why that is. I just always seem to go the fish or chicken route. Last night I decided I needed to add some spice to my life. I've been tired of the same ole same ole lately. So... I decided to make this ridiculously scrumptious (but healthy! Yes, it's possible) meal consisting of diced pork chops, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts atop tricolor quinoa. It turned out amazing and it gave me that "edge" I've been needing. I know what you're thinking and yes, these days something as simple as making pork chops I see as being edgy. What can I say? :) My bf assisted me in creating this meal as he is the "meat master" between the two of us. Always more fun to have someone help ya in the kitchen!

Ingredients

2 boneless pork chops

1 medium sized sweet potato

2 cups of Brussels sprouts

1 cup of tricolor quinoa 

2 tbsps Balsamic vinegar 

1 tbsp of coconut oil (in liquid form)

1 tbsp of olive oil

Teriyaki sauce

Szechuan spicy stir fry sauce 

garlic salt

red pepper flakes

turmeric

salt and pepper

1) First thing you need to do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin from the sweet potato. Dice it up into little cubes.

2) Rinse the Brussels sprouts and cut the ends off of each of them. Then cut them all in half to make them smaller. 

3) Put the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts in a bowl and add the balsamic vinegar, coconut oil, salt, pepper and mix together really well. 

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4) Add the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts to a cookie sheet and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

5) Next you need to get the quinoa cooking. Just follow the instructions on the bag/box etc but most quinoa follows the 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water rule and takes about 15 minutes. I ALWAYS use chicken or vegetable broth in place of the water and found it spruces up the flavor quite a bit. 

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6) Now that you have the veggies and the quinoa cooking you can start on the pork chops. Grab a medium size pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and turn to medium/high heat.

7) Cut off any excess fat (the white stuff) from the pork chops and then cut into little cubes. 

8) Add the pork chops to the pan 

9) Next add in the garlic salt, red pepper flakes and turmeric. I didn't put exact amounts on this because I always wing it depending upon my mood: ie if I want something really spicy, etc. So just add each of these spices to your liking. 

10) Next add in some teriyaki sauce and the Szechuan sauce. Again, adding as much of each as you want. The Szechuan sauce can be found at most grocery stores. It has amazing flavor and spice. However, you can definitely make this without it. 

11) The pork chops should take about 10-12 minutes max. Once they are done remove from heat. 

12) Once the veggies are done take them out and add them to the pan with the pork chops.

13) For plating, add a generous scoop of quinoa to the plate followed by the pork chops/veggie mixture which you will put on top of the quinoa. It looks real fancy and professional. 

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Turn on the Frank Sinatra Pandora station, light some candles and enjoy some lemon water in a wine glass, because why not?

Enjoy this guilt-free, protein and flavor-packed meal!