French Onion Smothered Pork Chops
Easy and flavourful for a week night! Can be dairy free with vegan cheese!
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I truly love pork chops, they are very versatile ... have I said that before? Probably a few times. But I mean it and this dinner was no exception. The french onion mix explodes with flavour and baked with some vegan cheese, this is a gooey meal that feels like a cheat, but it's still organic, healthy and full of nutrients.
I placed our pork chops in the oven at 350 degrees. I used a greek seasoning blend and some high heat oil, but you can season these with anything you have on hand that would pair nicely with french onion. These require about 25 minutes to cook, but that depends on your oven and the thickness of your chops so please be sure to check your internal temperatures.
This dish is served over creamy mashed potatoes, but I enjoy hiding veggies in this one to up the health benefits, so I do a 50/50 blend of potatoes and cauliflower. I placed both in a pot of water to boil. I don't need to go into more details here, but make a mash with them as you usually would once cooked. I make these dairy free with almond milk and dairy free butter substitute. Do your thing!
The onions take some time to get them nice and caramelized without burning... low and slow is the technique here. Slice them up into this pieces and start to cook them with some oil in a pan on the stove. Stir it frequently and keep the temp low. Once the onions become soft start on the next ingredients.
I added in the following to the onions:
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup of red wine
1/2 to 1 cup of beef broth.
If you really want easy and not too worried about hidden ingredients... add a package of onion soup mix with the wine and broth and leave out the other seasonings. #momhack
Keep stirring and when your pork chops and potatoes are nearly ready... add in some arrowroot starch, 1 tsp at a time to just thicken this mix slightly. You do not want it thick thick, the consistency you are aiming for is like a thin BBQ sauce, but with chunks of onion in it.. it stays on top of the chop on the most part but still liquid.
When your chops are done, switch the oven to broil and layer the onion sauce on the pork while still in their oven pan and top with real or vegan cheese. Put these back in the oven to broil just until your cheese is melted. Remove and plate out with your potatoes and a side of veg. You will have left over onion sauce that was not put on the pork chops... pour some of that over your potatoes too. The appearance of real to vegan cheese is obvious... its true vegan cheese just doesn't melt the same way, but taste wise I was happy with my dairy free version. I also used a cheddar blend simply because my family likes this... what would be equally great is a provalone or gouda cheese or flavoured vegan cheese. The possibilities are endless!!
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