Favorite Summer Salads

Can you believe it's already August?? Where has the summer gone?! Last time I wrote a blog post was on Memorial Day at the end of May, then I started my dietetic internship in June, and next thing I know it's August 6 and summer is almost coming to an end. How did I let this happen?? This dietetic internship has pretty much taken over my life, and it will most likely continue to consume me until the end of January when it's finally over; BUT I can't go all summer without posting some of my favorite summer salad recipes. Even though I've been busy, I still have managed to find time to cook up some fun dishes with inspiration from the farmers' market, which is just out of this world at this time of the year. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, cucumbers... you name it- it's there. These two dishes I've shared below are made up of the best combinations of summer vegetables and flavors.. I can't make it through summer without making both of these!! I promise you will enjoy them!

RAW CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD
I have to give my new roommate, Mia, props for helping me out big time with this one. Her and I are masterminds in the kitchen and we just work so well together to come up with the craziest, most delicious dishes ever. And this one sure didn't disappoint. We just sat out on our back porch one cool summer night, drinking some Boordy wine and chopping up veggies to throw into the mixing bowl et voila! You can choose to cook the corn (steam, boil, grill) if you want, or just skip that step entirely and just throw it in raw!

INGREDIENTS:
(For one large bowl's worth)
3-4 ears of corn,
1 can of black beans, drained and washed
1-2 green peppers, chopped
Few tablespoons of scallions, chopped fine
1 small onion (red or white), chopped
Few handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
LOTS of fresh squeezed lime juice
~2 tablespoons extra virigin olive oil
Few tablespoons of chopped cilantro
Few dashes of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Carefully shave the corn off of the stalk with a serrated knife and place into a large bowl.
2. Add in the chopped peppers, scallions, onions and have fun getting messy mixing it with your hands!

3. Add in the tomatoes, olive oil, cilantro, cumin and salt/pepper, and squeeze in lots of fresh lime juice. Adjust seasonings as necessary and ENJOY!

PANZANELLA (Italian Bread Salad)

I first saw a few of the food network stars (Giada, Tyler Florence, Rachel Ray..  pretty much all of them) make this salad on TV a few years back, and so I had to try it at home. And let me tell you - I've been hooked ever since. I know that having huge chunks of bread in a salad that doesn't even have lettuce in it is kind of a strange concept in the US, but apparently this is an Italian classic, and I think the Italians got it right on this one.  The flavors and colors of this salad are the epitome of summer to me and I'm pretty sure I could eat this dish every day for the rest of my life and be a happy camper. What's great about this salad, as with the corn salad above, you can't go wrong with the proportions of ingredients and you can throw in whatever summer veggies you've got. That's the way I like to cook! Seriously- you gotta try it!

INGREDIENTS:
(for a large bowl's worth)

1/2-1 loaf of day old bread (any kind will do.. a GREAT way to use old bread!)

3 large tomatoes (any color.. I have gorgeous yellow ones in this picture)

2 large peppers (again.. any color. The more colors the better!)

1/2 red onion

2 cucumbers

LOTS of basil

1/2 cup feta cheese

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

3 tblsp red wine vinegar

Salt/pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. First make the croutons, starting by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Cut up the loaf of bread into chunks (I like having big chunks, but any size is fine) and spread onto a baking pan. Lightly toss with olive oil, salt/pepper and bake for about 20min or until golden brown and crispy. 

2. While the croutons are baking, chop up the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and onions into roughly the same size chunks as the bread (This is supposed to be a rustic, chunky salad) and toss into a large bowl.

3. Chop up lots of fresh basil and add to bowl, along with feta cheese and salt/pepper. 

4. Once the croutons are done and have cooled slightly, add them to the bowl. Toss into salad and add olive oil and red wine vinegar. The croutons will soak up all the great flavors in this delicious, hearty, healthy, one-bowl meal! ENJOY!

Have a "BERRY" fun Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone has been enjoying this beautiful, long weekend and kick-off to summer! I know I sure have. I finished up my graduate classes (last classes ever?!?) on the 19th and have had some time off before taking my comprehensive exam this Thursday and then starting my dietetic internship on June 6th. Gosh, it's been so nice to have some real free time this past week to catch up with life! I'm looking forward to a change of pace and getting hands-on experience with my internship, though I can't say that I'm really excited about 40hr work weeks, plus extra assignments, non-stop until January... intense! But the program will be over before I know it and then I can start actually thinking about my wedding, getting a real job, and just starting my new life! Lots of changes, but I always look forward to new challenges and experiences. 


Enough about me.. let's talk food! One great thing about being done with classes is having more time to cook and experiment with new foods. And what better time than right now when the seasons are changing and copious amounts of gorgeous, fresh fruits and vegetables are available at the farmers' markets?! Strawberries, in particular, are booming right now and I couldn't be happier! Not only are strawberries so sweet and succulent (who doesn't LOVE strawberries??), but they are also packed with tons of health-promoting nutrients. Buy them from your local farmers' market while they are still in season to taste the deliciousness of freshly picked, local berries. Yum! Below are two very season-appropriate recipes using strawberries that I think you'll love! 


RED WINE SANGRIA WITH STRAWBERRIES, APPLES, AND ORANGES

What better way to celebrate Memorial Day than to make a fresh batch of sangria to cool you down after a hot day or to wash down all those grill foods? Sangria is one of my favorite drinks, especially during this time of year, and I love how forgiving, flexible and delicious this recipe is. Just use what you have and adjust the tastes to your liking! I personally don't like my sangria too sweet (most recipes call for some kind of fruit juice or sprite), so I just use a splash of triple sec to sweeten it up and add club soda for that extra spritz. You can also make it a few hours ahead of time and keep it chilled to let all the fruit soak into the wine for even more flavor.


Ingredients:
Red or white wine
Few splashes of brandy
Few splashes of triple sec
Club soda to make it spritzy
Chopped fruit: Apples, oranges, and strawberries!


Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a large punch bowl or pitcher.
2. Pour over a glass of ice and enjoy! Eating the wine-soaked fruit out of the glass is my favorite part!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB APPLESAUCE

This is another one of my favorite recipes to make once strawberries and rhubarb hit the farmers' market. The strawberries add great sweetness and flavor to the applesauce, while the rhubarb adds just a bit of tartness.. it's a really yummy combination. Rhubarb is a really fun, unique plant that grows in stalks and almost looks like pink celery. It's traditionally used in pies and other sweet desserts because of it's great tangy and tart flavor.  You just chop it the stalks into thin pieces and add it to the pot.

You can refer to my recipe for plain applesauce here. This one is pretty much the same but with strawberries and rhubarb added. Again, the proportions are totally up to you; you really can't go wrong with making applesauce.. it's all just about how you like it! Just chop up all the ingredients, throw them in a pot with some citrus (lemon or orange juice), cook until soft and mushy, then blend. I like to leave the skins on the apples for extra texture and nutrients, but you can choose to peel the apples beforehand if you'd like. And depending on how chunky you like you applesauce, you can decide how much to blend. Also feel free to experiment with adding spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc), different kinds of citrus (lemon, orange, etc), and different kinds of sweetners (agave, honey, maple, etc). The possibilities are endless!

Throw everything in a pot and cook for about 20-30 min stirring every few minutes until it look something like this...

Then use an immersion blender or processor to blend the applesauce to your desired consistency.

Serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold. Great snack by itself or with yogurt. Enjoy! 

Pizza on the Grill!

Ahh spring is FINALLY here!! Along with the random bursts of amazingly nice weather we've had here in Baltimore recently, you know how I know when springtime has officially graced us with its presence? When asparagus starts popping up at the farmers' market (marking the start of the growing season, yesss!) and I have the sudden urge to be outside and grill everything. Both of these things hit me at once last weekend when I bought my first bunch of asparagus at the market and then had a spontaneous barbeque with my roommates on a gorgeous warm evening - amazing! I decided to try something that I had only ever seen Bobby Flay do on the Food Network and never tried myself, and that is: cook a pizza right on the grill! Who knew you could just oil up the dough, throw it right on the grill, cook for a few minutes on each side and then top with your favorite pizza toppings? So easy and brings pizza to a whole new level of deliciousness. I cheated a bit and used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough and just kept my toppings simple and seasonal with mozzarella cheese and local mushrooms, scallions and asparagus. What could be better than sitting outside on a gorgeous spring night, grilling some food and sipping some cocktails with friends?

ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM PIZZA ON THE GRILL

Ingredients
Whole wheat pizza dough (store bought or make your own!)
Olive oil and a bit of flour for rolling out the dough
1 can of crushed organic tomatoes (or pizza sauce)
Shredded organic mozzarella cheese
Mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced thinly
Asparagus, washed and chopped
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
Salt/pepper and other herbs (basil, oregano)

Directions
1. Turn the grill on to medium-high.
2. Gather the sauce and cheese, and prepare your toppings so they are ready to go.
3. Roll out the dough using some flour until it's pretty thin; brush top side with some olive oil.
4. Throw it right on the grill with the oiled side down. Brush the top side with oil.
5. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until the bottom has some nice golden brown grill marks, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
6. It's easiest to take the dough off the grill really quickly at this point to throw on your sauce, cheese and toppings. Once everything is on, put the pizza back on the grill and cook until the cheese is nice and brown and bubbly.
7. Carefully slide it off the grill, slice it up, serve it up, grab yourself a beer or cocktail and enjoy!

 

DIY Hummus

Helllooo everyone! Yes I am alive and still blogging- just been on a bit of a hiatus with school, finals, spring break, birthday, yadda yadda yadda. But enough with the excuses and onto the food! Hummus, oh hummus... where do I even begin? Hummus is one of my favorite go-to snacks that I make probably at least once or twice a month to just have on hand to snack on, spread on wraps/sandwiches, etc.  I was introduced to the art of making hummus in college by a fantastic roommate of mine, Kayla, who made the best hummus ever and even made hummus as part of a job interview activity (yes, true story).  I love it so much now that just recently I was paid in homemade hummus to dog-sit a coworker's dog (also, a true story).  It's super high in protein and fiber thanks to the almighty chickpeas, so it's a great, healthy, filling snack anytime of day or year. I know there are tons are store-bought brands of hummus out there that are pretty decent, but why buy it from the store when you can make it so cheaply and easily and personalized at home?! My favorite thing about making hummus is that it is such a flexible and forgiving recipe that you can change in so many different ways based on what you have on hand or what you like (think- extra garlicy, roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato & basil, spicy hot, and the list goes on and is only limited by your imagination!). So below is just my recipe for the super basic hummus, to which you can add nothing and keep it traditional; or add any number of other ingredients to spice it up a bit. You definitely gotta try this and once you do- you'll never buy hummus from the store again! 

BASIC HUMMUS RECIPE

2 cans chickpeas, drained

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1-2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tblsp tahini (this is just sesame seed paste, of which you can find a big tub at the grocery store for about $5-6 that will last you a long time)

Water (add as need to thin out, maybe about 1/2 cup or so)

Dash of cumin

Salt/pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. If you have a food processor or blender, put the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and tahini in and begin blending/processing, adding water as you go to thin out the hummus. You can also put all these ingredients in a large bowl and use an immersion blender to get the job done (my favorite kitchen tool!) 

2. Continue blending until the hummus has reached a smooth, creamy consistency. Add salt, pepper, and cumin to taste. Et voila! Dip with some fresh, chopped veggies or pita chips! 

Other add-ins
Any kind of herb (parsley, basil, cilantro, etc.)
Extra garlic
Caramelized onions
Mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash
Sun-dried tomatoes
Mexican spices (chipotle chili powder, cumin, red chili flakes)

Any other favorites/suggestions? What is you favorite kind of hummus??

Fish Tacos.. My way!

The recipe is my version of a classic... fish tacos!  I am a big fan of fish tacos, but usually when I see this dish on menus in restaurants, the fish is battered, deep fried, topped with full-fat sour cream, a little bit of lettuce or cabbage, and tons of cheese then wrapped in a flour tortilla. Don't get me wrong, fish tacos prepared this way are absolutely irresistible in their fatty, creamy, fried goodness, but oh man, I feel like I need to be rolled home after eating something like this. What's the fun in eating food that makes you feel like crap afterwards?! Exactly. So I decided to make my own version of fish tacos at home with the same great fresh, mexican flavors; but without all the guilt. I steamed my fish instead of frying it, used a medium-sized, whole-wheat tortilla instead of the huge flour tortilla, and topped with a fresh cilantro, sour cream cabbage slaw, salsa and a little bit of cheese.  Few ingredients, not a lot of prep time and SO deliciously satisfying without all that fat and calories.  All I can say is that this is a MUST-TRY recipe ...  I promise you won't be disappointed!

FISH TACOS

Ingredients
(for 4 tacos)
1 lb meaty, white fish (halibut, mahi-mahi, cod, etc.; fresh or thawed from frozen) *Always remember to purchase sustainably caught fish- check this Sustainable Seafood Guide for more information (they even have a downloadable app!)
Mexican spices/herbs- salt/pepper, cumin, chili powder, cilantro
2 cups cabbage (green or red), chopped
1/2 cup green onions (or red onions), finely chopped
2 tblsp low-fat sour cream
Juice of one lime
4 whole-wheat tortillas (hard shell corn tacos work also!)
Additional toppings:
Shredded cheese
Salsa
Hot sauce

Directions: 
1. Top fish with a little bit of salt/pepper, cumin and chili powder, then steam (or broil) until cooked through and flaky. Break apart into bite-size chunks and put aside.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the chopped cabbage, green onion, sour cream, lime juice and mix well. Add a few dashes of cumin and some fresh chopped (or dried) cilantro.

3. Time to start building the taco (or more like a burrito!). Put one tortilla on a plate and place 1/4 of the prepared fish in the center.

4. Add 1/4 of the cabbage mixture on top of the fish.

5. Top with whatever other toppings you'd like: salsa, cheese, hot sauce, etc. 

6. Fold over both ends in towards the center, take a big ol' bite out of it and prepare to be amazed!   

Potato Leek Soup

Happy Meatless Monday everyone! Boy, have I been MIA from blogging recently! Being engaged has been incredibly distracting from things I should be focusing on - i.e. school, work and blogging - but its been a good distraction and I know I'll come down off Cloud 9 soon :-)


In the spirit of Meatless Monday, I want to share a really nice recipe for Potato Leek Soup. Though we've had some bursts of nice weather recently out here in Baltimore, it's still cold, which means it's still soup season... and I'm not sick of it quite yet. With only five main ingredients, you can't get much simpler than this recipe.. or more delicious!  Leeks may be the only unfamiliar item in this recipe, but fear not! Leeks are in the same family as the better-known scallions, onions and garlic, which means they provide many of the same health-promoting benefits associated with these vegetables.  Mild and sweet, leeks add a nice depth to foods its cooked with, and they taste great cooked on their own, or added to salads, soups, casseroles, etc.  The potatoes, onions, garlic and leeks go really well together in this super easy, healthy, hearty soup that's perfect for a Meatless Monday!


POTATO LEEK SOUP

Ingredients

Olive oil
2 onions (I used one yellow and one red, just for extra color), chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 leeks, thoroughly washed and sliced thinly (use mostly the white/light green parts and about an inch or so into the dark green leaves)
~1lb potatoes, washed and chopped into large chunks
6-8 cups vegetable broth (or water)
Bay leaf (optional)
Salt/Pepper to taste

 Directions
1. In a large soup pot, heat 1-2 tblsp of olive oil and add in the onions, garlic and leeks. Cook for several minutes, stirring often, until softened.

2. Add in the potatoes, bay leave (optional) and cover with vegetable broth.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes until potatoes are soft (check by mashing a potato with a fork against the side of the pot)

4. You can leave it chunky if you wish, or for a smoother, creamier soup, use an immersion hand mixer or blender to puree the soup.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with some parmesan cheese before serving and enjoy!

Buying in Bulk and Making Granola

Ever since cleaning out and reorganizing my kitchen over winter break, I've become obsessed with saving and stocking jars with all sorts of things in my pantry (my roommates can certainly attest to this).  One of the best cost- and time-saving tips I could give anyone, is to shop in the bulk section of your grocery store and load up on beans, grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and so on. Here are a few reasons why I love buying in bulk- 1.) Quite a bit cheaper; 2.) Less packaging involved (you can even save and reuse the plastic bags you use for bulk items) 3.) Most bulk items (not including candy) are non-processed, nutrient-packed whole foods and staple ingredients that are great to have on hand to be used in a variety of ways; and 4) I just love the rustic, old-fashion look of filled jars in the pantry, but maybe that's just me! 

One of my favorite ways to use bulk ingredients is to make my own granola, which I've only recently even attempted to do because I've never been a huge granola fan. That being said, I think most of the time when I say I'm not a fan of a particular food is probably because it's overly processed with tons of added fats, sugars and lots of other unnecessary ingredients; so it's not always the food itself (because I love just about every food), it's just how its made. That's why I like to make my own food my scratch because I know exactly what's in it and I have the freedom to make it to my own personal liking. Awesome! So when I finally got around to making granola from scratch, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it. Granola is such a versatile and nutrient packed snack that is great on yogurt or with milk, on its own, or even on a pb & j sandwich for an extra crunch (yum!) 

This recipe is extremely simple and can be easily adapted to your preferences for nuts, dried fruits, spices or whatever you have on hand. Don't worry about measurements or exact proportions because you really can't go wrong and it's all about how you like it. So get creative, have some fun with this one and try something different each time you make it. It's great to make one huge batch at a time so you can store it in a jar, tupperware or bag in your pantry to use for a few weeks. 

Ingredients:

1 lb old-fashion oats

few big handfuls of chopped nuts (I used chopped almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds)

handful of shredded coconut

handful of dried cranberries

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

~1/2cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

few dashes of cinnamon and allspice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

3. Spread into a 9 x 13 baking dish and bake for about 30-50minutes, stirring every 10minutes or so until nice and golden brown. 

4. Store in the a couple big glass mason jars, tupperwares, or plastic baggies in your pantry and enjoy in all sorts of different ways! 

I'm ENGAGED!

Just thought I'd share with everyone that I am officially engaged to the most wonderful man in the world, Matt Righter (I'll put in a little plug here for his blog, mattrighter.blogspot.com, about baseball and pitching.. we're both blogging nerds). He pulled off a very elaborate plan, scheming with all my friends and family, to surprise the heck out of me with a gorgeous ring, red roses, champagne, music- the whole nine yards.  It's been such a special weekend and I couldn't be more happier! Here are a couple pictures. 

Cinnamon Apple Chips

Happy Meatless Monday everyone! I know I haven't been quite on top of posting a new meat-free recipe every Monday, but I hope you are still trying and challenging yourself to go one entire day each week without meat.  Anyone have any comments on their own experience trying Meatless Mondays? I'd love to hear about it!

While procrastinating doing biostatistics homework, I thought I would go ahead and post an easy and delicious recipe for apple chips that I made this weekend (Okay so it's not that exciting of a hearty Meatless Monday recipe, but it's still a tasty snack that will keep you going through a meat-free day!). I eat a lot of apples during this time of year and I'm always looking for creative ways to use them (kind of like my last cabbage post.. ), especially with apples that are starting to go bad or have a few bruises here or there. Applesauce (click here for my recipe) is usually my go-to way to prepare apples if I have a ton that I need to use up, but this weekend I tried making oven-baked apple chips with a few extra apples I had laying around... and I fell in love.   I sliced them up real thin (the thinner the slice, the crispier the chip), sprinkled with some cinnamon and popped them in the oven on really low heat until they got nice and crispy and golden brown. They are great to snack on and to take on-the-go for a super healthy munchie (wayyyyy better than greasy, fatty potato chips.. yuk!). These are soooo good, you will probably want to make more than you think you will want...

CINNAMON APPLE CHIPS 

Ingredients:

(makes about 4-5 cups worth)

3-5 apples, any type

cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. 

2. Cut the apples into chunks around the core (or use an apple corer, if you have one), and slice very thinly. A mandolin is the best option for getting thin, even slices for crispy chips. 

3. Spread out the slices in a single layer on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (or tin foil, but use a cooking spray first). Sprinkle side facing up with cinnamon.

4. Bake for about 20min or so on the first side, until the slices start shrinking and shriveling up, turning slightly golden brown.  Then flip over the slices, sprinkle the other side with cinnamon and put back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes until this side is golden brown and crispy. You may have to work in batches depending on how many cookie sheets you have and can fit into your oven at once. I had to do two shifts of two cookie sheets. 

ENJOY!

So Much Cabbage!

I am a huge fan of cabbage. In one of my previous posts (here), I went on about how cabbage is not only nutrient-rich, but also extremely cheap, versatile and great during the fall and winter months.  That being said, cabbage can be kind of overwhelming when you get a huge head of it and have no idea what to do. Even I've been stumped and have had get pretty creative with how I prepare cabbage after buying a GIGANTIC head of it for only $2 (score!) at the market a few weeks ago. Below are three different ways to prepare cabbage- the first two are really simple raw cabbage/coleslaw-like recipes, and the third is a cooked version with pork. I am hoping to finish the last of my cabbage leftovers for today or tomorrow, and though I've thoroughly enjoyed using every last bit of that enormous cabbage in creative ways, I think I may go on a cabbage hiatus for a while. How did that crazy cabbage soup fad diet ever catch on??

CLASSIC (MAYO-FREE) COLESLAW

Ingredients: 

4 cups chopped or shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup thinly sliced or diced onion

For the dressing- a simple dijon vinaigrette:

(Don't worry about exact proportions- this is about how I like it, but adjust the oil to vinegar ratio as you like it!)

2 tblsp dijon mustard

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

drizzle of honey or agave syrup

1 tblsp olive oil

salt/pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the shredded cabbage, carrots and onions into a large bowl. 

2. In a small bowl, use a fork or whisk to mix together the dressing ingredients until well-combined. 

3. Pour over the coleslaw and mix well. This coleslaw is a great dish to take to a party and can keep well in the fridge for a few days. Enjoy!

CABBAGE WITH PEANUT SAUCE

This is hands-down my favorite go-to way to prepare cabbage - very simply with shredded cabbage and a deliciously rich and creamy peanut sauce. The sauce, which is so lip-smackingly good, can easily be made ahead, stored in the fridge and used in a variety of other ways. 

 

For the peanut sauce: 

2 tblsp creamy peanut butter (softened for a few seconds in the microwave)
2 tblsp soy sauce, preferably low-sodium
2 tblsp rice vinegar
the juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
pinch of grated ginger
a touch of siracha (a spicy red chili hot sauce... use at your own risk!)
a little bit of water to thin it out

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the peanut sauce with a fork or whisk until well-combined.

2. Pour just enough sauce to cover your cabbage, but don't drench it. Save the extra sauce in the fridge for later use.

SAGE-MUSTARD PORK CHOP WITH SAUTEED CABBAGE AND ONIONS

Ingredients:

2 pork chops, preferably local, organic, and/or humanely raised

Sage mustard sauce (I found this awesome sauce at my local market, but if you don't have anything like this, than you can use a dijon or honey mustard instead and just add dried sage) 

Salt/pepper

Dried sage

4 cups cabbage, shredded

1 medium onion, chopped

sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)

Directions:

1. Marinate the pork chops with mustard sauce overnight or at least of few hours in the refrigerator.

2. In a pan, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. While the oil is heating, sprinkle some salt, pepper and sage on both sides of the pork, push down and then place on the pan. 

3. Cook about 5 minutes on the first side (until golden brown, try not to move it once it's on the pan) then flip over and cook another 5-10 minutes on the second side, lowering the heat and covering the pan with a lid until the pork is cooked through. 

4. While the pork is cooking, place the chopped onions in a new pan with some olive oil and cook for a few minutes until soft. 

5. Add in the cabbage and continuing cooking just until the cabbage begins to soften, but try not to overcook. Finish the cabbage off with a splash of the same vinegar used on the pork for the last 30 seconds of cooking. 

6. Once the pork is done, deglaze the pan with a few splashes of sherry vinegar to create a nice thick sauce for the pork.

7. Serve the cabbage on a plate, top with the finished pork chop and drizzle with extra sauce. Enjoy!