Chops and Chips

I have been out of town all weekend, and I knew that I wanted to make something delicious and really easy tonight. I hadn't made pork chops in a while, so I went with pork chops, kale chips, and an easy Caprese salad.

If you don't know what kale is, it comes from the cabbage family, and it is closely related to collard greens, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. Kale contains high amounts of vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, beta carotene, and also contains sulforaphane, which is a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties. I have never adventured with kale, until my boyfriend's mom introduced it to me. I had in a soup, and it was delicious. I had been hearing people talk about kale chips, so I decided to look up a recipe a few months ago. Once I saw how simple it was, I knew I would always have a quick, delicious, and extremely healthy snack to make if I didn't want to have a lot of cooking labor.

I am failing a lot at this whole no carbs thing, but this dinner was extremely good, and didn't have any wheat, flour, or carbohydrates. It really only required me to have olive oil, salt, and pepper as additional ingredients. Olive oil is such a staple in my apartment; I probably use it every day.  If you don't consistently have it in your kitchen, you probably should invest!

Kale 
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale (Trader Joe's has bags of it)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Pork Chops:
3 thick cut pork chops
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Toss kale in a large bowl along with salt, pepper, and olive oil

3. Place kale on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes, or until they are brown and crisp

VOILA!!! 

Chops Directions:
1. Heat a medium-large sized pan over medium heat, adding two tablespoons of olive oil to pan
2. Using the same bowl as the kale was tossed in, coat the pork chops in olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever else you like to use as a rub

3. Place chops into pan, and sear each side, roughly 10 minutes per side. I kept the oven at 400 degrees after I took the kale out, and placed the chops in the oven for an extra 10 minutes to make sure the inside was completely cooked

I really hope that you enjoyed this recipe, because it's so fast and yummy :)