Honey Mustard Pork and Roasted Sweet Potatoes

     A protein that I rarely cook is pork.  I'm not sure why...but it gets passed over most nights as the main course.  While watching a Rachel Ray show (not sure which one), I got this idea for a breaded and baked boneless pork chop.  She did something similar using the honey mustard mixture.  Here's is the recipe!  This pork is super easy and very tasty!  As my side dish, I roasted diced sweet potatoes with cinnamon and honey.  That recipe also follows!

Honey Mustard Pork

Ingredients:

2 boneless pork chops, thawed 

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon stone ground mustard (yellow or spicy brown mustard will work)

Splash of vinegar (white wine vinegar also works)

1/2 cup regular bread crumbs

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

If you have thick pork chops, you may want to pound them a little thinner.  This will help them cook more evenly and be more tender to eat.  Place one pork chop at a time into a ziplock bag and pound evenly on both sides.  Thinner pork chops don't need this step.  You don't want the pork too thin and flimsy.  

Create your honey mustard mixture by combining honey, mustard, and vinegar into a small bowl.  Whisk until everything is thoroughly combined.  I taste at this point to make sure it's not too sweet or too tangy.  Add or subtract ingredients as you need to.

Prepare your breading by combining bread crumbs and thyme onto a plate.  Mix with a fork to make sure the seasoning is all through the crumbs.

Bread your pork chops.  First, dip each piece into the honey mustard mixture and then into the bread crumbs.  You want to completely cover the meat with the sauce.  That's where the delicious flavor comes from!  

Place the pork chops onto a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  The breading should be golden brown and the pork should be white in the middle.  Time will vary depending on your oven and the size of the pork chops.   You could serve this will extra honey mustard sauce (not any that has touch raw pork!!!) or your favorite barbecue sauce.  Enjoy!  

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced (the smaller the dice, the faster they cook...also make sure they are all the same size)

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Ground cinnamon

Honey

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  These will take a while!  Be patient!  Whenever I make these as a side dish, I get these in the oven first before doing anything else.  It'll be so worth it!

In a baking dish, lay out sweet potato cubes in a single layer.  Add oil and salt and pepper to taste.  With clean hands, mix everything up so that the oil is touching all of the sweet potato.  This helps them stay moist and keep them from burning.  Bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes in the oven, very carefully take them out and stir.  The sweet potatoes should be brighter in color and starting to get soft.  Drizzle the whole thing with a healthy amount of honey and sprinkle on your ground cinnamon.  Stir again and bake for another 20 minutes.  You should start to smell them towards the end of the cooking time.  Check them because they will burn and that's never good!  I always say....Your nose knows!  You eat with your eyes and nose first, so trust your senses!