I find pork chops to be a difficult cut of meat to work with. Most of the time they’re too dry or too tough, but when I found this recipe, I knew it wouldn’t be either of those two things. Foil packets trap steam in, keeping the meat nice and juicy. So I was excited when I found this in Healthy, Hearty and Simple One Dish Meals. (I know, I should’ve just gone out and bought the book, right? Well not quite. I copied a lot of recipes from this book, but only the ones I was interested in…I guess a lot of them caught my attention.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp canola oil

1/4 tsp allspice

2 large potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 large onions, sliced

2 large carrots, sliced

4 boneless center-cut loin pork chops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, oil, chili powder, allspice and pepper.

3. Dip the pork chops into the sauce, coating both sides. Then place aside on a plate. Then add the veggies to the remaining sauce and toss until coated.

4. Tear off a large sheet of aluminum foil (about 18 x 12). Place one pork chop in the center of the foil. Then scoop 1/4 of the veggie mixture onto the piece of pork. Repeat 3 more times. Then fold the foil into packets and place on a large baking sheet.

5. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the pork is done and the veggies are tender.

This meal was so tasty. There is a bit of prep time that goes into this, but I really enjoy chopping vegetables. It’s relaxing to me for some reason. Or maybe it just takes the edge off from a long day of work after discovering your work computer was chock full of viruses and decided to suddenly stop working. (I know, right? Baffled me too. Usually when you have a virus, it’s pretty prominent that you have one–computer sirens go off, your system warns you that you have one… But I guess these silent killers were..pretty silent.)

Oh well. If you’re mad about your virus-infested computer, making and eating this dinner will make you feel better.