Welcome to my Taste of Home meals. The best. Apple Rosemary Pork Chops. So easy, so delish, and comforting to boot. I need meals like this. Easy, throw in one pot kind of eating. So feel free to slice up some small potatoes, toss them in olive oil and seasoning salt, and put them in the oven right before you start the chops for a perfectly rounded January dinner.
Speaking of January, it’s almost here. I’m starting to hear faint whispers of diet plans and resolutions. Hey, good on ya’ if that’s you, but I have very rigid rules when it comes to January and the start of a new year. First and foremost are resolutions, they should be attainable and ambiguous. That’s the only way to not feel like a failure mid-February. But as far as diet goes, I just don’t do it. Sorry not sorry. And here I go again into another list, because I love them and you should too.
Why I don’t diet in the new year.
1 – Seasonal Affective Disorder. This may be the most important of reasons. January is my LEAST favorite month of the year for this specific reason. I’m not carrying this as a badge of honor, in fact, it’s pretty common where I come from. It gets dark/rainy/solemn/melancholy here in Oregon, and we all become rapidly devoid of energy. That’s why January is my “anything goes” month. If I want to drink tea out of a paper cup and watch Olson twins movies all night, then that’s what I’ll do. If I want to eat mac and cheese and go to bed at 6 p.m., then that’s what I’ll do. Adding a diet to a month that is already a quicksand of emotions isn’t a great idea. I take it easy on myself and try not to add fire to the flame.
2 – I eat well. Not dieting doesn’t mean that I eat junk food. I eat comfort food in January. It’s carb-rich and nutrient-stacked. As it is, I don’t really like junk food. Fried food sort of freaks me out unless it’s a donut or potato. FRENCH FRIESSSS!!!! But the foods that are rich in the vitamin D, something we get from the sun, are egg yolks, milk, cheese, mushrooms, calf liver, orange juice, shrimp, oysters, salmon…. I could go on. There is a reason that we crave winter squash in the WINTER because it’s loaded with vitamin C, B6, B2, K, dietary fiber, and so on. I’m a FIRM believer in getting our vitamins from the food we consume. So I eat well, I drink water, I take walks, and if I want mashed potatoes for dinner, then I’ll have mashed potatoes for dinner.
3 – Holiday Detox. In my life it’s hard to quit cold turkey. It’s difficult to hold hard and fast to rules after a few months of cavalierly eating a box of Christmas cookies a night. Anytime I have actually tried to diet in the new year, I failed because I wasn’t setting myself up for success. I was already struggling emotionally and then adding a difficult eating structure. Listening to by body is way easier than listening to workout Barbie’s eating standards. Slowly bringing my eating back to normal ensures that I don’t eat my feelings after a sentimental Bonnie Raitt song.
4 – I am more than my body. You are more than your body. In high school I was a 10/12, when I was a college athlete I was a solid 14, I married at a size 12, as a newlywed I was back to a tipping 14 almost 16, a few years back I was a 8/10, and before my diagnosis I was a 10/12, now I’m a 14. And GUESS WHAT… This summer I’ll be a 12 again, and I just don’t have any expletives to give. I am healthy. I don’t overdo it on the sugar, I eat my vegetables, I exercise when the mood hits, my A1C is rockin’, and my mammogram is clear. Just TRY and come at me with your thigh gaps, I’m not having it.
I’ll add that I’m not a nutritionist/dietitian/dr/rn, and all of the knowledge I just dropped is based on my own experience and low hanging Google fruit. I’m not trying to start a new eating lifestyle. I just want to confront our assumptions about weight/dieting/health.
And, might I say that this recipe falls perfectly into my January eating plan. It’s light, but hearty. It has mass amounts of flavor so you don’t feel like you’re missing out.The flavor is heightened if you have time to brine your chops beforehand in some salt water and crushed pepper. However, it’s not completely necessary because the perfect sweet onion mixes with the earthy rosemary and acidic-perfumed apple with enough flavor for a throw together dinner.
Apple Rosemary Pork Chops
These savory Apple Rosemary Pork Chops are the warm comfort food that is needed on a cold night. It only takes 30 minutes total, and you’re on your way to dinner.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, more as needed
4 bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1 sweet onion
2 Gala apples
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 pomegranates arils
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high. Generously salt each side of each pork chop. Sprinkle the pork chops with cracked pepper and all spice.
Sear the pork chops for about two minutes on each side, remove from the skillet, and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add more olive oil to the skillet and remove from the heat. Chop the onion and apples and place in the skillet. Add the rosemary and apple cider vinegar and combine. Return the pork chops to the skillet, and dot with butter.
Place skillet in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the internal temperature of the pork chops registers 160 degrees.
Top with pomegranate arils.
Keywords: apple, rosemary, pork chops, pork
