Slow-Roasted Apple and Onion Pork Chops

This has been a weird week for me. I am all caught up in myself and dealing with it by self-medicating with Netflix and cooking and snuggling with my sweet dog. These sort of gray-ish days have only two cures-long walks with the husband and dog in the evenings, and some healthy comfort food.

As expected, last night was not a spring food night for me. I woke up craving these succulent apple and onion slow-roasted pork chops I made a few weeks ago, and decided to revert back to fall cooking for a night. I am so grateful that I did. To liven these up a little, we ate them with some fresh, crisp green beans and a delicious side of experimental Apple Cinnamon Baked Quinoa (recipe will be posted separately tomorrow). All around, this was a great dinner with minimal prep time and skill involved. A note on the pork chop recipe-this is something I have borrowed from Mel over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe ( a great go-to recipe blog that never fails me!). I have made this several times now, and I just can't get enough of it. So get yourself some beautiful pork chops and make some already!

These chops are soft as butter. You don't even need a knife to cut them. Just let your fork gently break them apart as you struggle not to inhale the whole thing. They taste like apple and brown sugar and sweet onion. I haven never had pork as tender as this. I've had and made many a tough pork chop in my life. This recipe will leave you wanting seconds and thirds. This recipe is no-fail, and incredibly delicious, and made from whole, natural foods.

Sweet Pepper Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne and Roasted Garlic Asparagus

My favorite part of leaving winter behind is the explosion of color in my fresh produce options. Suddenly, my kitchen transforms into a rainbow of delicious possibility, and the dreary days of winter and dull, lifeless food seem to fly out the window. This dish is a celebration of colorful rainbows of culinary possibility. Oh, and it's super easy, super healthy, and a great way to get your vitamins in for the day.

Prepare your palate for a delicious treat of Sweet Pepper Chicken with Whole Wheat Penne and Roasted Garlic Asparagus.  We ate this with a crisp spinach salad and savored every bite!   

Let me say-I have always hated peppers. I remember being served stuffed green peppers as a child and hated them, and I think my aversion comes from that. I have learned to like red and yellow bell peppers, but my world was literally rocked a few weeks ago when I had my first sweet baby pepper. It was like eating vegetable candy, and I have been hooked every since. This simple dish was a great chance to allow some chicken to absorb the sweet, succulent flavor of these peppers. The green onions added another flavor dimension and really bumped this dish up to a 10 for me. The asparagus was a deliciously simple pleasure, and the addition of a nutrient-rich spinach salad rounds this out and makes it both healthy and delicious.