Marvelous, Veggie-fied, and Fruit-FULL!

Hey guys!

I’m so glad you all liked yesterday’s panCOOKIES! And if you happened to miss them, click HERE, get your drool on, and then come back so we can celebrate Monday in style!

Time to join Katie in another edition of Marvelous in My Monday!

Friday night, I headed over to my parent’s house for our first family dinner in MONTHS! Since we’d all had a pretty hard week, mom and I made the call and deemed it a pizza night so I stopped by my favorite take-n-bake pizza shop and picked up two large pizzas (pepperoni and cheese) for only $4 each!

As per tradition, I veggie-fied the heck out of the cheese one! 😉

I assure you my dad was happy with the evening’s menu…he just doesn’t know how to smile! 😉

And well, what’s a balanced meal of salad and veggie-packed pizza without a little indulgence?

There was also some apple pie involved, but none for me…I was ALL about the ice cream…with cocoa powder! Please tell me I’m not the only one who knows how delicious this is!

Saturday, I ended up picking up a day shift at the hospital…not so marvelous, but I definitely made up for it in the hours that followed…

I met up with this guy:

And we went out for suuuuuuuuuushi!

We started out with an appetizer of tuna tataki (SO good!) followed by some seaweed salad. Then came our plate-o-deliciousness.

Paradise roll on the left and the Blue something-or-other roll on the right (it was topped with grilled steak…YUM!), and over to the side, two pieces of squid sashimi!

Neither one of us had ever tried the squid before, so it was a bit of an adventure…

An adventure that WON’T be repeated!

It was pretty fishy tasting, but the biggest turn-off? It swelled in your mouth the more you chewed…gah, it was everything we could do to not spit them out! Lol

On Sunday, I woke up bright and early (daylight savings time means nothing when you’re a nightwalker like me!) and ended up having a pretty productive day before heading into work later on.

I finished up some cleaning I started on Friday, got my sweat on at the gym, and then, since I had so much success with it last Sunday, took another stab at meal prepping for the week…

I’d say my efforts proved fruit-FULL!*

*And serve as proof that I can indeed make something besides pancakes! 😉

After drooling over Sarah’s roasted grapes last week, I decided to pick some up when I stopped by the store over the weekend and then they just happened to have a sale on some pork chops…yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and call it destiny.

Pure, delicious destiny!

Grilled Pork Chops with Thyme-Roasted Grapes & Onions

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Keywords: grill roast entree high protein paleo pork fall

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

For the Thyme-Roasted Grapes & Onions

  • 1 1/2-2 cups red or black grapes
  • 1/2 large red onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 Tablespoon dried thyme (or 1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh)
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Grilled Pork Chops

  • 3-4 4oz. boneless pork loin chops*
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon ground sage
  • salt & pepper to taste
*I think this would be just as amazing on grilled tempeh!

Instructions

For the Thyme-Roasted Grapes & Onions

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. In a bowl, combine grapes and onions and add oil and spices.
3. Stir/Toss to coat.
4. Arrange on in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
5. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until onion pieces start to brown and grape skins start to wilt.

For the Grilled Pork Chops

1. Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, combine mustard, vinegar, syrup, and spices.
3. Brush mixture onto both sides of each pork chop before placing in the skillet.
4. Cook approximately 4-5 minutes per side or until the internal temperature of the thickest portion of the meat reaches 145F and juices run clear.
5. Serve alongside your favorite grain and top with thyme-roasted grapes and onions.

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My new favorite grain? Trader Joe’s Harvest Grain Blend…I could kick myself for allowing the bag to sit in my pantry for over a YEAR!

If you’ve never experienced the delicious flavor of a roasted grape, I’m telling you right now, you haven’t lived! And with the combination of their sweet flavor with the savory thyme…it was simply magical.

As in this plate magically disappeared in a matter of minutes! 😉

What was marvelous about YOUR weekend?

What’s your MOST favorite ice cream topping?

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26 Responses to Marvelous, Veggie-fied, and Fruit-FULL!

  1. YES!!! I’m glad you listened to me when I told you that roasted grapes would chage your life. (Or at least your tastebuds.) I almost wish I ate meat right now because I just KNOW how great this must have taste. Apparently, in some parts of Italy, they roast the grapes with sausage. Intriguing, no?

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Omg, YES!! Thank you so much! I’m not a huge sausage fan (that’s NOT what she said), but I would be all over it (that IS what she said) if there were roasted grapes! 😉

  2. Jessie says:

    Pork Chops with Grapes… Can this be a more perfect combination!!!! **Praying that they have seedless grapes @ the grocery store this week**

  3. Annnnd you just convinced me to buy pork. I’m so done with chicken and fish that I didn’t buy any animal protein at the grocery store last night. I still managed to spend well over $100 though… go figure.

  4. I picked up a bag of that Trader Joes grain blend and then put it back…I may have to go get it. 😉

    This may seem like a weird question, but since you work overnight, do you end up working an extra hour when we fall back?

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh my gosh, you HAVE to go back! It cooks up so fast…I can’t believe it took me so long to try it!

      And that’s not a weird question at all! Actually, I got lucky…since I work Sunday night through Wednesday, daylight savings time had already started, but the girl who worked on Saturday did get screwed! :-/

  5. Kat says:

    Im not a big pork fan but those chops look good! I love the addition of grapes!

  6. Pork and roasted grapes?! YUM! Reminds me of a sweet and salty combo that I loooove.

  7. katie says:

    I need to experience the flavor of a roasted grape, sounds amazing! I really want to try that!

    LOVE the sushi date, the sushi looks amazing! I had squid once like that and YUCK! I totally know how you guys feel, Mike and I hated it! We like squid salads, the squid is different in those and tasty!

    Marvelous stuff going on in this post 😉

    Glad you shared! <3

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Your life will most definitely be changed once you’ve experienced a roasted grape! I’m already trying to decide how I’m going to use them next AND what other fruit I’m going to roast…love that natural sweetness! Oh, and these would be HEAVEN on a bowl of ice cream! 😉

      I agree, the squid was something totally different…I love squid salads, but this was so NOT what I was expecting. Glad to know I’m not the only one who has suffered through! Lol

      Thanks for hosting girlie! I ALWAYS look forward to MIMM’s! 😀

  8. Rachel says:

    your pizza looks amazing! I love veggies on my pizza 😀 although, not a fan of how small they get once you bake it haha

  9. You never thought you’d get sushi advice from me (I bet), but there are two kinds of squid in my book. The poorly sliced, often found at sushi restaurant, rubbery kind — and the real deal. It’s one of the more difficult fish to slice correctly, but when you get a good one it is good. I really hate the texture and taste of the kind you had. 🙂

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Haha, yeah, definitely didn’t think you of all people would be dishing out the advice on raw fish! Lol Good to know they’re not all bad though…I’ll just be sure to be a bit LOT more careful if I ever chose to experience squid again! 😉

  10. reminder to self… never get squid! that doesn’t sound pleasant! I’m glad you got to hang out with him though and your family! Family dinners are the best!!
    When I was a kid, Iused to eat my vanilla ice cream with sour cream and onion chips! yuuummmm… lol!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I agree…nothing like family time, especially with my busy family…it’s always so hard to get everyone together with our crazy schedules!

      Sour cream and onion chips, huh? Innnnnnnteresting! I have had the Ben & Jerry’s late night snack ice cream before (it has potato chips in it) but I’ve never thought about going any further with a flavored chip. I’ll have to keep that #strangebutgood in mind! 😉

  11. I went out for sushi this weekend too! That was definitely marvelous. 😀 Also so was going home for the weekend, seeing my best friend for the first time in 2 months, going to brunch with my family, and receiving 2 academic awards at school!

    Love the look of that pork and roasted grapes! I’ve never tried cooking grapes before, but I’ve seen it done in food magazines before and I’ve always been curious about it!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Aww, yay! Congratulations for the awards! Sounds like MORE than a marvelous weekend to me! And what? YOU went out for sushi?? Nooooooo way! 😉

      You’ve GOT to try the roasted grapes…I swear, life changing…I know you’ll love them!

  12. 😯 Squid swells in your mouth? Oh gawd. Suddenly I’m feeling a little bit queasy 😳 Think happy thoughts… think happy thoughts. ICE CREAM! I could go for that 😀 I’ve actually never tried putting cocoa powder on top of ice cream, but I think my favorite topping would probably have to be warm caramel sauce with crumbled cookie bits.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I know…I’m trying to erase the memory from my mind! Ice cream is definitely a good way to do that…ESPECIALLY with caramel and cookie crumblies! MMmmm! Now I’m craving ice cream at 8am! Lol

  13. That recipe looks delicious! Plus how much fun is family nights – I look forward to dinners at my folks more than anything! Mainly because my mum cooks all my favourite foods!
    xo Emilie @ Hungry Delights

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Thank you Emilie! And that is EXACTLY my main reason for liking dinners with my parents too…always feels like a special day when my mom cooks my old favorites! 😀

  14. Allie says:

    Okay, I’d apologize for having a weird favorite ice cream topping, but then I remembered whose blog I’m commenting on ;D OVALTINE. Malt flavor, not chocolate flavor. Over plain but real vanilla ice cream (like Breyer’s with the real bits of vanilla in it, not the vanilla “flavored” stuff). So we’re clearly on a similar page. And we have similar dads. Mine always looks like he’s at a funeral or about to beat you up in pictures, never quite mastered that “smile on cue” business.

  15. Jennifer says:

    Yummy! I don’t cook pork often and I don’t know why. I will have to give your grilled pork recipe a try. 🙂

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