Ok, team! I will be conducting a series of "Eating Clean on Quarantine" recipes with simple ingredients you may already have on hand! This specific recipe I created (which I'm quite proud of) consists of only pork, cabbage, fresh onion, fresh garlic, and coconut milk! The additional ingredients are ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry. If you don't already have these specific items in your pantry, get them! They not only make your food taste good, but they're good for you as well! For this recipe, you can use thinly pre-sliced bone-in pork chops. I actually bought a 3 pound pork roast and sliced it into thin pieces for this specific dish. Pork shoulder will not do well in this recipe. Weather you use a roast of a chop for the recipe, be sure to slice it thin so the chops stay tender and the cooking process doesn't take forever!
Please enjoy this recipe! It's delicious, delightful, paleo, low-carb, and ready to be devoured in your home!
TIME: 30 Minutes
YIELDS: 4 Servings
CAL 372g | CARBS 30g | FAT 17g | PROTEIN 28g
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons of avocado oil or coconut oil, divided
1 pound of pork chops, sliced thin (about 1/2 inch width)
1 tablespoon plus an additional teaspoon of Himalayan salt
1 tablespoon plus an additional 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of powdered ginger
1 tablespoon of Chinese 5 spice
1 medium-sized yellow onion, divided
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of coconut aminos or Bragg's aminos (if you don't have either, you can use Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce)
4 tablespoons of white vinegar, divided
1 small head of green cabbage or half a head of cabbage, sliced into medium strips
1 (15 ounce) can of coconut milk
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice the pork chops (if they're not already sliced) into 1/2 inch thick pieces.
3. Combine 1 tablespoon of Himalayan Salt, 1 tablespoon of black pepper, 1 tablespoon of Chinese 5 spice, and 1 tablespoon of ginger powder into a large bowl. Stir it together with a fork. Dip each pork chop into the bowl and rub the spice mix all over each chop. Set pork chops aside on a plate.
4. Chop the cabbage as a listed above. Slice the onion in half. Chop half of the onion in medium dice. Slice the other half of the onion in strips. Mince all 4 garlic cloves. Set aside.
5. Place your cast iron skillet over high heat. Add 1.5 tablespoons of avocado or coconut oil to the pan. Allow the oil to spread over the surface of the pan. make sure the pan is hot! Add all 4 pork chops to the pan. Make sure there is space between each chop so the chops can brown & sear. We don't want to over crowd the pan otherwise the chops will be mushy and not caramelized. After 2.5-3 minutes, flip the chops over and caramelize for another 2.5-3 minutes. We want to sear the chops just long enough for them to brown on both sides. Add the garlic cloves, half of the medium diced onion, 4 tablespoons of coconut aminos, and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to the pan. Place the cast iron skillet in the oven while we cook the cabbage.
6. Place another pan over the same burner we used to sear the pork chops (the burner is still on, nice and hot ready to be used). Wait for about 30 seconds to get the pan hot, add the remaining avocado oil (1.5 tablespoons). Turn the heat down to medium-high. Add the cabbage. Using tongs, stir and saute. When the cabbage starts to wilt (after 4-5 minutes), add the onion, 3 tablespoons of the coconut milk, remaining vinegar, and the remaining sliced onion. Sprinkle the remaining salt & pepper in a bullseye formation so every bite has flavor. Saute and cook until cabbage and onions become tender. This process should take at least another 4 minutes. Set aside.
7. Pull the pork chops out of the oven. Place the pan on the same burner. Pull the pork chops out of the pan and set them aside on a plate. Add the remaining coconut milk in the pan. Stir and swirl the coconut milk around to combine the onions, garlic, and brown bits of the pork chop. The sauce will thicken and form a glaze. Turn the heat off. Add salt and pepper as needed.
8. Serve the pork chops alongside the cabbage. Drizzle the chops with the onion-coconut glaze! Enjoy!
Optional Add-Ins:
Chopped cilantro
Chopped jalapenos
Serve with a bed of rice