Sheet Pan Cumin Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts

People love a good sheet pan meal, something NY Times was betting on when they published an entire section devoted to the genre. My beau immediately zero’d in on this recipe, which I adapted ever so slightly. It was super easy and since he was the one who picked it out, he was into serving as sous chef. I gotta admit, his spice game is on point.

Combine 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes and 4 cloves garlic (minced). Rub the spice mix all over 4 pork chops and let them sit at room temp for at 20+ minutes. Turn the oven to 450 degrees while you let them marinate and get the rest of the ingredients prepped. In a bowl, toss 1-2 lb brussels sprouts and a large bunch of sage leaves (1/4 c. sage leaves per lb of brussels) with a few glugs of olive or avocado oil and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Get your pork chops and sprouts on a large pan and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the chops and shuffle the sprouts a bit before cooking 5-10 minutes more. NOTE: These are the cook times for large, bone-in chops. We used thinner, boneless pork chops and they definitely didn’t need this much time. Spritz with a lemon and serve.

Two ingredients really make this meal special: sage and lemon. The lemon, especially, may seem like an afterthought and something that you don’t reeeeally need, but I can point to these two ingredients as the ones that changed the flavor profile from similar recipes I cook regularly. At this heat level, the sprouts cook perfectly and the spices from the pork start to ooze off and cover the veggies as well so you’re left with a lemon garlicy yumminess.