Cooking Corner: Pork Chops with my "Signature Rub", Brussel Sprouts, and Asparagus

So, I love food, obviously. I love cooking food. And I desperately want to increase my arsenal of dishes. Therefore, I'm participating in the Reddit 52 Weeks of Cooking Challenge. Week 01 was "diet foods". Ok, well I'm not a fan of most diets, I think they're fads and the minute you're "done", you gain all the weight back, so I took it as "acceptably healthy foods".  Mom LOVES my pork chops with my signature rub, and we USUALLY do Auntie Annie's Mac and Cheese with it, but I decided to make it a little healthier with some nommy veggies!

Step One is to prepare your Pork Chops! We start with the rub, mine consists of Pink Himalayan Salt (OMG - so good, so much more flavorful than table salt!), some chili powder, paprika, a bit of cinnamon, and a healthy pinch of brown sugar. Please do not judge my lack of measurements, because I don't measure. So you pour it on your chops, one side at a time. Rub it into the first side before your go pouring it on the second side. I usually put my rubbed chops back in a plastic baggie and put it back into the fridge to let it kinda... soak in.

Next I got working on my sprouts. I, personally, trimmed the ends off and cut the big ones in half and the REALLY big ones into quarters. I then tossed them in extra virgin olive oil and flavored in salt and pepper. I put them on a cookie sheet and into the oven at 375 for 30 minutes, taking them out every 10 minutes to turn and reoil, and on the last 10 minutes I added a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. We did have a few leaves fall off, but they crisped off, and, I'mma be honest, they tasted WAY better than kale chips.

Next the asparagus. It's SUPER EASY!! Pour some EVOO in a large pan/skillet. Put your oven on medium high and let that oil get hot. Place your asparagus in and just keep turning occasionally until its green and easily poked with a fork. Oh, and don't forget a pinch of salt!

Finally, I pam up a medium sized pan and put it on medium high and let that sucker heat up. It should be HOT before you put your pork chops in. Place them in, they should sizzle, and cover. turn them in six minutes and cover again. If you feel they need a little longer, lower your heat to medium so you don't burn your chops. Remember, you don't want your chops to be "medium", because they're pork, but then you also want them to be juicy!.

That's it! Plate it up and you're done. Here's my plating, but I suck at plating soooo.... Oh - and I enjoy dipping my pork chops in BBQ sauce while my mom enjoys a yummy Plum Chipotle. When I make these chops, my sodium loving mother DOES NOT ADD SALT! That's right, it's a miracle, because it's that good!