Hotter than HOT Spicy Pork Chops with Crunchy Asian Coleslaw ~ This one is GOOD!!

WOW!!!! Talk about a SPICY dish!! What's that saying, oh yeah, if you can't handle the heat than get out of the kitchen. A warning for sure! Although this dish packs a lot of heat, it is incredibly good!! This recipe was made in under 30 minutes =) A great meal for weeknights and I highly suggest having a glass of ice water near by, or a nice cold beer would pair well too.

With everything that I make, I have to figure out something for my two year old, so there is a non spicy recommendation for the kiddos or for those that can't handle the heat below!

Hotter than HOT Spicy Pork Chops with Crunchy Asian Coleslaw

4 Boneless Pork Chops (a medium thick cut works well)
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chili sauce with garlic
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
sliced green onions for garnish

Heat your pan and spray cooking spray. Add your pork chops. (If you prefer to grill, by all means, fire it up)! While the pork is cooking, combine all other ingredients besides the green onion to make your hot sauce.

(This is a good time to create your coleslaw, see directions below).

Your pork should cook through and through, there should not be any pink in the middle. After the pork is cooked, pour the hot sauce over the pork and allow to cook for a few minutes (for the kids, see below). The sauce should thicken a bit. Place on a plate and garnish with the green onions.

Crunchy Asian Coleslaw

The book calls this part of the recipe a salad, well growing up in the south, I call it coleslaw =) What is so great about this coleslaw, its thrown together in 5 minutes! Literally!! And its mayo free =)

1 small bag of coleslaw mix (cabbage, carrot, etc)
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1 cup matchstick cut cucumber
1/2 cup matchstick cut carrots
1/3 cup Newman's Own Sesame Ginger Dressing
fresh cilantro leaves to taste
roasted sesame seeds for garnish

Toss all ingredients in a medium bowl and its done =) Sprinkle sesame seeds on each serving.

For the Kiddos
My daughter likes spicy foods, but this meal would have been beyond her spicy comfort zone! Before placing the sauce on the pork chops, I cut off some pork chop for her.

I placed her cut up portions on her plate and dressed her pork chops with pear baby food. Really any fruit compliments pork chops, I suppose the best would be apple, but we didn't have any apple sauce handy, so pear would have to do. I spooned some pear over the pork chops and cut up the coleslaw so a little mouth would have an easier time eating and digging in.

She loved this!

It's good to serve this dish to the kids in a small bowl, so they can scoop the coleslaw easier since it is cut up. When it was time for dessert, I gave her the rest of the pear baby food container.

It ended her meal perfectly =)

If your children are a bit older and would want to try the hot sauce with their meal, serve it on the side. That way, if they can't handle it, its not all over their pork chops and the meal is still saved =)

The Twist
This recipe would also do great as lettuce wraps. The combination of the spicy pork with the crunch and flavor of the coleslaw would all mix well wrapped together.

- Health Info -

Pork - Pork is naturally low in salt and a rich source of good quality protein. It is also a good source of several vitamins and minerals needed for good health including iron, zinc, some of the B group vitamins, selenium and phosphorus. Lean pork is a rich source of B12. A 100g portion of pork provides you with 70% of your daily requirement of the vitamin!

Cabbage - Cabbage, being rich in iodine, helps in proper functioning of the brain and the nervous system, apart from keeping the endocrines glands in proper condition. Thus, it is good for brain and treatment of neurotic disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (Woot Woot). The various other nutrients present in cabbage such as vitamin-E which keeps the skin, eye and hair healthy, calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc., are very useful for overall health.

Carrots - Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin A carotene. Carrots' antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer and also promote good vision, especially night vision (which I lack because I'm always running into walls when its dark).

Chili Peppers - Chili Peppers contain significant quantities of vitamin C. The red peppers (not the green) also have high concentrations of beta-carotene. The heat from any type of hot pepper triggers the pain receptors in your mouth, which turns on the feel-good endorphins in the brain. This decreases feeling of stress or depression, who knew?

Pears - Pears provide a good source of fiber, vitamin B2, C, E, copper, and potassium. They
are an excellent source of pectin, which is a water soluble fiber.