Glazed Pork Chops with Roast Potatoes, Apples, Chorizo & Olives

This dish has a slight Spanish inspiration with the orange zest, vine tomatoes, olives and sherry vinegar.  Tamarind paste is an Asian ingredients and if you can't get it something simple like balsamic vinegar or worcestershire sauce will be equally fine.  Again if sherry vinegar is not handy just grab some white wine vinegar or even better some cider vinegar. Leaving the skin on the apples and potatoes adds a little more fibre to the dish, while being strict and only eating the centre medallion of pork will seriously reduce the saturated fat content of the dish. A little chorizo goes a long way here so again be very vigilant in your portion control. This meal is very filling and satisfying all the while including a few veggies. The rapeseed oil produced in Donegal is a great Irish product and we should encourage Irish and local where possible, instead of imports.
Overall this dish and a great idea if having friend around for dinner as the pork can be marinated over night and all the veg prepped just to pop in the oven.

Ingredients

Serves 2 

2 Free range pork chops

Marinade

1 tsp local honey

1 tsp tamarind paste / balsamic vinegar ( 2 tbsp )

zest 1 orange

1 tsp wholegrain & 1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp extra virgin oil ( try donegal rapeseed oil )

3 tsp Spanish sherry vinegar

2 medium sized potatoes

100g olives

50g chorizo

1 apple

1/2 red & 1/2 green pepper

1 large red onion

4 cherry tomatoes

6 cloves garlic

2 handfuls flat leaf parsley

Method

1. Prepare the meat marinade - combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Trim the fat off the pork chop or if you prefer score the fat and remove when the dish is ready to serve - but absolutely DO remove the fat. Spread the marinade over the pork. Set aside
2. Preheat the oven to 200o C
3. Wash the potatoes well. Don't peel if possible. Cut into half and parboil for 7 mins. 
4. Cut the chorizo into cubes.
5. Peel and deseed the peppers. Cut into chunks.
6. Leave the skin on the onions and quarter.
7. Peel and crush the garlic.
8. Wash, (leave the skin on) remove the core and cube the apple.
9. Quarter or half the tomatoes ( depending on the size )
10. Cut the parboiled potatoes into smaller cubes.
11. Spritz a large baking tray with spray oil. Spread the potatoes, chorizo, red onion, peppers, garlic, apple and olives on the tray.  Spritz and bake for 15mins.
12. After 15 mins heat a griddle pan and sear the pork chops. If they begin to stick deglaze the pan by splashing on a little sherry vinegar. Transfer to the oven for 10 mins.
13. Remove the pork, cover with a little foil and allow to rest for 5 mins as the roast potato and apple tray crisps up.
14. Stir the flat leaf parsley through the apple and potato roast tray. 
15. Serve and enjoy

Blue Cheese, Parma Ham and Pear Salad

Salads are quick, easy and in most instances quite virtuous. This salad is seriously impressive and makes a great little starter or a light main course served with a single slice of  toasted wholemeal sour dough. Moreover, this salad a brilliant fusion of some amazing Irish blue cheese, Irish pears along with Italian Parma Ham and Balsamic.

This salad  has a great balance of sweet, salty, creamy and crunchy. I don't advocate any one source or supermarket but for this recipe Aldi has to be the place which offer premium products at the best price.

To explain how this salad fits in to the SkinnyLovesFood ethos - the big splurge here is the Blue Cheese. Although normally a very strong flavour this awarding winning Aldi specially selected mature blue cheese has a subtle flavour with just the right amount of impact. It is high in saturated fat but a little goes a long way.  Removing the visible fat from the parma ham makes it become quite a lean source of iron along with the spinach. Also,the pisatchios provide some fibre. Fresh pears would be great but I find tinned pears - although a lower nutritional value - are fine. Just ensure they are in a natural juice not syrup.
This salad has amazing taste and flavour for a low fat, healthy, filling meal.

Serves 2

Ingredients

100g mixed leaves (rocket, spinach, watercress, chard)

4 slices parma ham

25 pistachio nuts (shelled)

50g blue cheese

half red onion

1 tin pears

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp balsamic glaze (Lidl)

Method

1. Preheat oven to the highest setting  - 220oC. Open the tin of pears, drain. Place on an oven proof dish and drizzle with the maple syrup. Pop in the oven for 10 - 15mins.
2. Rinse the lettuce leaves. Peel and finely slice the onion. De-shell the pistachio nuts. Remove the visible fat from the parma ham.
3. In a salad bowl combine the leaves, parma ham, red onion. Crumble in the blue cheese.
4. Remove the pears from the oven and thinly slice. Add these and the pistachios to the salad.
5. Toss all the ingredients together with the balsamic glaze.
6. Serve and enjoy.