Featured Recipe - Sweet & Spicy Pork Chops

MMM pork, the other white meat. The one meat I find to be totally drab and hard to work with – surprising, right? I would always end up with a tough and chewy pork chop. Most people find pork to be very easy to work with, but it took me several attempts to get it right. Finally, I figured out the best way to make pork work for me. My life-changing pork secret: a brining solution (AKA salt water bath)

My amazing, energy-saving oven takes *forever* to preheat.. easily 20-30 minutes to get it into the 400’s. So while I am preheating the oven I will soak the pork in the pan covered with water and a few good shakes of sea salt. This makes the pork nice and tender and MUCH easier to eat! Again, life-changing! Every time I forget to do this step I deeply regret it!

Since the discovery of the “Not So Soy Sauce”, I went into an Asian-inspired cooking frenzy. These Spicy Pork Chops were on the menu and they definitely made the short-list of favorite recipes.

Ingredients:

2-4 Pork Chops
Brining Solution: 2-3 cups of water + 1-2 tbsp of salt mixed together
1-2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
¼ cup of “Not So Soy Sauce” – recipe here
1 tsp sesame seed oil (very strong flavor so you do not need much!)
Sriracha to taste (2-4 tsp depending on how spicy you like it!)

Directions:

If you are dealing with some thick chops, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. If they are thinner than you will likely be able to get the job done solely on the stove top.
Soak the Pork Chops in your brining solution for 30 minutes while the oven preheats and prepare the marinade
Marinade: Mix together the Not So Soy Sauce, Sesame Seed Oil, and Sriracha.
Drain the Pork Chops from the brining solution and cover them in the marinade (let sit for 10-20 minutes, if you would like. I typically skip the sit)
Heat the avocado oil in the skillet on medium heat and cook the pork chops for about 4-5 minutes on each side.
If Pork Chops are not completely cooked through then add them to the oven for additional cooking – usually 5-10 minutes.

The final product, a yummy and spicy pork chop that is not in the slightest bit tough/chewy! I seriously LOVE this recipe and it goes VERY WELL with the unwrapped egg roll (recipe here). I added just a small amount of rice on top of the no-egg roll for the significant other who *insists* he requires a grain or carb at each meal.. We are working on that!