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MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

½ cup thinly sliced red onions

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon olive oil

Two 6-ounce center-cut pork chops

1 garlic clove, cut in half

½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

½ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper, or to taste

SALSA

½ cup diced fresh or frozen peaches

½ cup diced ripe Hass avocado

1 tablespoon diced red onion

Grated zest and juice of 1 lime

½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

Heat the oven to 450°F. Toss the onion slices with the oregano and olive oil. Preheat an ovenproof skillet on top of the stove over medium-high heat, then add the onion mixture. While the pan is heating, rub the chops on all sides with the garlic. Season the pork to taste with salt and pepper, and place on the onion mixture. Pop into the hot oven and cook until the pork is browned on the outside and no longer pink in the middle, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the salsa mixture in a small bowl. Cover and set it aside.

To serve, use a spatula to place half the onion and pork onto each of two dinner plates. Top with salsa.

Nutritional Analysis: 512 calories, FAT 6 g, PROTEIN 55 g, CARB 14 g, FIBER 4 g, CHOL 156 mg, IRON 3 mg, SODIUM 682 mg, CALC 58 mg

Cooking Lesson

Confit simply means “cooked in its own juices.” The term originated in France, where frugal cooks preserved duck by cooking it in its own juices, then storing it in the fat in which it had cooked. We’re talking months here, like all winter in a cave. (This was before electric refrigeration.) Today, a confit is a means of concentrating flavor, and to “confit” a vegetable or fruit concentrates the natural sugars and yields a delicious result.

Menu Suggestion

A big lettuce salad would look good on the plate and give you a little free crunch.

Roast Pork Loin with Apricots and Mustard on Red Cabbage

Each slice of pork loin you fan out over the red cabbage will have an orange-colored core, a burst of apricot color, and flavor. Remember that you needn’t cook pork to death, either. An internal temperature of 160°F is all that’s required.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes

12 ounces pork loin

3 dried apricots, coarsely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley

1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for filming the pan

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 cups finely shredded red cabbage

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Heat the oven to 425°F. Use a sharpening steel, boning knife, or a sturdy chopstick to poke a hole lengthwise through the center of the meat and insert the apricots into this hole, pushing them with your fingers.

Combine the garlic and parsley with the olive oil on a sheet of wax paper. Season the roast all over with salt and pepper, then slather it with mustard. Dredge the roast in the garlic and parsley mixture. Toss the shredded cabbage with the vinegar in a medium bowl, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Film the roasting pan with olive oil and make a bed of the red cabbage on the bottom of the pan. Place the pork on the cabbage and roast, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meat is 160°F. Let it stand 5 to 10 minutes, then carve into ½-inch slices and serve, making a bed of braised cabbage topped with fanned-out slices of meat on each plate.

Nutritional Analysis: 427 calories, FAT 25 g, PROTEIN 36 g, CARB 13 g, FIBER 3 g, CHOL 107 mg, IRON 3 mg, SODIUM 975 mg, CALC 103 mg

Health Benefit

Once again, cabbage gives a dish not only a flavor lift, but a nutritional boost as well. You’ll get 59 percent of your RDA for vitamin C, and from the meat, 33 percent of the iron you require.

Caramelized Pork with Scallions and Butter Lettuce

Vietnamese cooking combines the best of Asia