Seared Pork Chops With Sauteed Rainbow Chard and Mushrooms

When you use fresh, local ingredients, it doesn’t take much to make an amazing dinner. A few ingredients, simply prepared, can pack a huge punch if you let their natural flavors shine through.

The other night, a regular school night/work night, my family sat down and silently enjoyed every last bite of these seared pork chops topped with local rainbow swiss chard and mushrooms with some steamed butternut squash on the side. All it took was four ingredients and less than thirty minutes to make my kiddos speechless at the dinner table.

Seared Pork Chops With Sauteed Rainbow Chard and Mushroom & Steamed Butternut Squash

Steamed Butternut Squash … 

I have written about butternut squash before. (Click here for more details…) It is so easy and so tasty – perfect for a fancy holiday dinner or any regular weekday. Using a sharp knife, roughly remove the skin from the squash and cut into inch-sized pieces (toss the seeds in your compost pile). Steam the squash, covered, over a couple inches of water for about 20 minutes until the squash is tender and mashable. When the squash is fully steamed, mash it with some butter, brown sugar, and salt & pepper. 

Seared Pork Chops …

Seasoned Pork Chops from Edgerton Farms, North Carolina

While the butternut squash is steaming, prepare your pork chops. We get our pork chops from a farmer in Rutherford County, NC. Tasty, tasty, tasty. You don’t need to do much to good pork chops – keep it simple. Generously season both sides of your chops with your favorite seasoning combination or meat rub. Get creative! Heat up some olive oil in a pan – when the pan is really hot, spread the oil around a bit and quickly lay your chops in the hot oil. You want to hear a nice SIZZLE. Don’t touch the chops. Let them cook for about 3 minutes until they have a nice sear on one side and then carefully flip each chop over so that you can get a nice sear on the other side. Cook for another 3 minutes or so. If your chop is about 1/2 inch thick, you only need a few minutes per side to get them cooked through. Remove the cooked chops to a baking dish and keep in an oven preheated to low while you finish preparing the veggies.

Sauteed Rainbow Chard and Mushrooms … 

Rainbow Swiss Chard from Emerald Springs Farm

In the same pan as the one you just used for the pork chops, add 1 tablespoon or so of butter and turn the heat to medium. Scrape up the seasoned bits from the bottom of the pan to give your veggies from flavor and then add (1/2 bunch or so) of chopped rainbow swiss chard and (8 oz to 1 pound) sliced mushrooms. (Use the stems and leaves of the rainbow chard!) Cook the chard and mushrooms until the mushrooms have shrunk quite a bit and the chard is tender and wilted.

The meal …

The whole cooking process should take you less than 30 minutes … Place each pork chop on a plate and top with the sauteed chard and mushrooms. Serve beside your steamed butternut squash. ENJOY!