Cajun spiced pork chops

I really didn't know what I wanted for dinner tonight so I looked through recipes I have made before and found this one. It's been a while since I made it so that was another reason why I chose it. The sides I made were oven-roasted garlic green beans that I make all the time now (you can find that recipe also on my blog) and applesauce. The original recipe can be found on the All Recipes website here.

Review: The recipe for the pork chops is quite spicy. If you don't like spicy foods you will not like this recipe. It's quick to make though and you more than likely will have the majority of spices and herbs already in stock so it won't be too expensive of a meal to make either. I just had to go buy the green beans, pork chops and cayenne pepper. The recipe also calls for cooking the meat in the skillet but I just seared them on the skillet then cooked them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes while the green beans also were cooking in the oven. I like the pork chops a little better that way because it keeps them moist. I will say, though, that the applesauce helped with the kick of the pork chops. I would take a couple bites of pork then take a bite of applesauce and it almost made the spice non-existent. I think it was just because it was a cold taste on top of the spicy so it helped cool it. I would definitely recommend the applesauce with it when you make the meal if nothing else than for the reason of helping to knock down the kick. I also doubled the ingredient amounts because I used 6 pork chops instead of 4 like the recipe calls for that way we would have two chops each if we wanted them.

Recipe:

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed dried sage leaves (I used ground sage but it doesn't make a difference either way)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (I used garlic powder)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 center cut pork chops (again, I used 6 and I used boneless center cut chops)

Mix the paprika, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, sage and garlic salt on a plate. Liberally coat each pork chop with the spice mixture. Heat the olive oil and several pumps of non-stick, butter-flavored spray in a large skillet over high heat (I didn't use the spray). Place pork chops in the skillet, reducing the heat to medium. Cook until the pork is no longer pink in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

If you put it in the oven, sear both sides of the pork chops for 1-2 minutes in the skillet then transfer them to a baking pan. Stick them in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes then serve.