Seasoned and Seared

Healthy Hump Day Recipe

Going out to dinner is always fun, and we love trying new things and new restaurants in town. There really is so much variety out there, and we love supporting our local economy. However, a night in can be just as fun in completely different way. We find a movie that we want to watch, change into our jammies, and the kitchen becomes my blank canvas as I whip up dinner for two. Seth is a trooper when it comes to trying new meals that I've made from scratch, and thankfully I've learned over the years ingredients that compliment each other, so there aren't really any major flops anymore like when I first started cooking years ago. I always prepare healthy food for us at home and load it up with flavor and delicious sides for a well-balanced meal that is appealing to all of the senses. We had some frozen lean pork chops that had been thawing all day, and I wanted to season them in a way that would compliment some fresh homemade applesauce made with love by hand-picked apples from a good friend's parents up in Wisconsin. Seth and I had been snacking on the applesauce all week and was in awe of the sweet, rich taste that no store-bought brand could ever duplicate, and apples are traditionally a great pairing for pork. I decided to offset the sweetness with a slightly spicy rub that Seth had used on his barbecue pork ribs, and WOW did this make for a delicious dinner. Th beauty of this recipe is that you can change it up any time by using whatever your favorite dry rub or spice selection is. The pork was served on a bed of seasoned brown rice (I always like to season the rice with the same seasoning as the main entre) alongside that delicious homemade applesauce. What a fun evening in!

Pan-Seared Seasoned Pork

Ingredients
-1.5 lbs lean pork
-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
-6 tbsp dry rub seasoning (or enough to coat both sides), divided
-4 tbsp flour

Directions
1. Coat one side of pork with 2 tbsp olive oil, massage 2 tbsp of the seasoning into pork, and dust with 2 tbsp flour. Flip pork over and repeat.
2. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to coat the pan.
3. When olive oil is shimmering hot, add the pork and cook for 5min resisting the temptation to move or flip them.
4. Flip can sear on other side for another 5min again resisting the urge to move them around.
5. Serve on bed of rice alongside delicious homemade applesauce.

*It is imperative not to move the pork when using the pan-seared technique because each movement adds additional cooking time!
*Pan-searing something creates a flavorful crust and seals in all of the juiciness of the pork!
*It is ok to have a hint of very light pink in the meat still as pork is at its best cooked to medium!

The ingredients

The naked pork

Coat with oil

Massage seasoning in

Dust with flour

Heat with oil over medium-high heat

Sear 1 side for 5min without moving

Sear other side for 5min without moving (pork was slightly too big for my selected pan, so cut each pork in half after flipping and finished searing separately)

The delicious homemade applesauce to compliment the pork as a side item

A garnish of green to top a delicious dinner