Pork Loin Chops with Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

This is another recipe I’ve wanted to try for at least a year. After Thanksgiving, when I found myself with half a bag of cranberries left over in the fridge, I knew this was how I was going to use them up.

We all absolutely loved the cranberry-pomegranate (cranegranate?) sauce on top of the pork chops. The sauce would be delicious on its own, in fact, as an alternative to a more traditional cranberry sauce. It also would have been delicious on top of mashed potatoes, which I’d intended to make with this meal and would have had I remembered to buy potatoes (d’oh!). The sauce is tart and tangy and sweet and just has tons of flavor.

The original recipe calls for pork tenderloin that is baked in the oven. I decided to fry mine up in olive oil instead, but I think either method would be absolutely delicious. This is a flavorful, relatively healthy meal with very few ingredients, and it couldn’t be easier to prepare!

Pork Loin Chops with Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce
adapted from About.com

1 pound pork loin chops
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and add to pan. Cook until pork chops are caramelized.

2. Meanwhile, heat pomegranate juice, sugar and cranberries in a small saucepan on medium high until boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to medium low and cook until sauce thickens and reduces.

3. Drizzle sauce on top of pork before serving.