Roasted Pork Chop with Sautéed Cabbage and Mushroom -- 30-minute one-pot dinner

The past week has been exciting: we are moving into our new loft downtown! While the new place is absolutely amazing (for example, besides a huge kitchen island, we also have a walk-in pantry with motion sensor now), we are still missing some odds and ends in terms of living. We left our bed in the old apartment for the subletter, which translates into us sleeping on an air-mattress for three months. Not ideal but doable. We spent our free time furniture shopping and assembling. We jointly designed convertible coffee table made of walnut and maple. We went to five different stores so far for a ton of new furniture/household goods. What I am trying to say is, we are excited about our new place, though there are plenty challenges yet.  What powered me through, is the aspect of cooking, in a huge kitchen equipped with everything I could ask for. So far I have been making a different breakfast bar/cookie every day, plus our three course dinner and two course lunch. I have also made some almond butter which turned out pretty well. 

Tonight is the first night we are downsizing, from three course to one: pork chop with sautéed cabbage and mushroom. 

It was an extremely simple dish to make. D was not hungry at dinner time so I made some cookies  and breakfast bar first. Meanwhile, I did manage to give our pork chops a good rub, consisting salt, pepper , cajun seasoning  and some rosemary that D got me as a move-in present :D

This is a pound of chops for two of us (and of course leftover for lunch tomorrow).  After all the baking is done, the over was already hot at 350 degrees. Perfect.

I browned the pork chops on the stove top, with some olive oil and a garlic clove, for about three minutes per side.

The next step is to transfer the chops onto a baking dish and roast at 350 for about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, I chopped up half of a cabbage and two button mushrooms for sautéing.

I simply love love the knife from my mom. It can cut through anything, effortlessly.

After sauteing the vegetables in olive oil for about ten minutes (season with salt and freshly cracked pepper), the chops should be almost ready. I transferred them back to the sauté pan and finish them off on the stove top. My plate was inviting.

So was D's. I apologize for the image quality -- we were watching Colbert Report and had our lights dimmed.

Here are our plates again after five minutes. First, this was how much I ate in five minutes:

And here's how much D ate:

It was surely juicy and tender enough!

Roasted Pork Chop with Sautéed Cabbage and Mushroom

serves 3

• 3 pork chops, about 1 lb
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper (preferably freshly grounded)
• cajun seasoning
• 1 clove of garlic (chop up optional)
• shredded half a head of cabbage (1 lb)
• sliced, two button mushrooms (optional)
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, rub the pork chops with salt, pepper and cajun seasoning
2. In a skillet, heat up 1 Tbsp of olive oil, roast the garlic clove
3. Brown the pork chops using the skillet, for about 3 minutes each side)
4. Transfer the pork chops to a baking dish. Roast in the oven for about 12 minutes. You can start checking the doneness after 10 minutes.
5. Using the same skillet, add the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil, saute the cabbage and mushroom until soft. Season with salt and (freshly cracked) pepper.
6. When the pork chop is done, transfer them back into the skillet on top of the vegetables. Serve immediately.