Pork--the other white meat

Okay, so I thought I'd pass along a recipe that I've made twice and is soooo good. I thought ya'll who are looking to spice up your typical dinner might want to make it, as well. Prep time is next to zilch, then it's just waiting on the oven. I cleaned my car and put away the rest of the wedding gifts in between the baking--imagine what YOU can do!

Here it is:

Ginger-Orange Glazed Pork Chops & Veggies

1 (9 ounce) bag of frozen baby carrots (or roughly 1 and 1/4 cups of non-frozen carrots)
1 (9 ounce) bag of frozen sugar snap peas (or 1 cup or so of non-frozen sugar snap peas)
1 (8 ounce) can of water chestnuts, sliced and drained (This is optional. I don't use them)
1/3 cup of orange marmalade
1/4 hoisin sauce
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of grated gingerroot--you can find it in the produce section. It looks like a petrified tree.
4 (4 ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops
salt and pepper


Heat the oven to 450. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Thaw the vegetables in the microwave if you need to, otherwise, continue to next step:

Combine the marmalade, hoisin sauce and gingerroot in a small bowl. Mix well. Reserve 2 tablespoons for later.

Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper and place the pork in the corners of the baking pan. Place thawed carrots in the center of the pan, drizzle sauce over carrots, brush pork with the sauce.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan, brush the pork and carrots with more sauce. Add sugar snap peas and chestnuts, toss gently.

Return to oven, baking until the pork is no longer pink. Turn everything, including veggies, half-way through, add any remaining sauce (NOT THE 2 tablespoons you'd put aside earlier!) and continue baking.

Remove from oven, place on platter, and drizzle the 2 tablespoons of sauce over the pork chops.

That's it.

Now--one thing they didn't include in the recipe that I did add, and we both loved, was brown rice. I just cooked up a bag of instant brown rice, put that on our plates as a foundation for the food, and allowed all the juices to drip in...it was delicious. The sauce is sweet, not spicy, and really complements the carrots and peas. The pork was delicious, and very healthy, especially if you use olive oil in the baking pan. Enjoy this meal with a nice glass of white wine. We did!!

Enjoy!!

Kat