Mr. Bear is the homebody when it comes to cooking. If it isn’t pasta based, pancakes, or French toast, I generally cry “Uncle!” and yield the kitchen to someone better suited. Baking is more my forte and I’m happy to stick to it. But every once in a while I’m pushed to actually make a meal and I always do my best not to rely too heavily on pre-packaged sides (like instant mashed potatoes or rice in a packet). I think its my inherent need to prove that I can, if forced, make a meal and not starve.

Recently I happened to have boneless pork chops, red potatoes, and asparagus on hand and the aforementioned situation. Here’s what I managed to come up with on such short notice that didn’t really require much effort on my part:

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Simple Potatoes

  • Eight to ten medium red potatoes
  • Three tablespoons of butter
  • One teaspoon of oil
  • One tablespoon of all purpose spices

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub your potatoes clean and cut off the bad bits. Don’t peel, just dice into bite-sized bits. I know your arteries are already clogging up when you think of adding that much butter in addition to a little oil but trust me, with this many potatoes it’s just to make sure they don’t stick to badly to the bottom of your glass casserole dish. Besides, I live in the South. Add butter, butter, and more butter!

After you’ve added them to the casserole dish, add your teaspoon of oil and tablespoon of spices. I have a favorite spice mix that works on pretty much everything made up of garlic, toasted onion, black pepper, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, turmeric, coriander, nutmeg, paprika, celery seed, sea salt, ancho chili pepper, lemon peel, and essential oil of lemon. What a list! Seriously, it’s great stuff and with a tablespoon it does just the trick to give the potatoes flavor but not overpower the comfort potatoes offer you.

Here’s where you get your hands dirty – dig in and get everything mixed up. Once you’ve leveled everything add your cut up tablespoons of butter at regular intervals and pop into your oven on a middle rack. You can expect it to take about forty-five minutes before your potatoes are golden and tender. Just remember to stir and flip occasionally (twice or so should do it).

Simple Asparagus

  • A pack/bunch of asparagus
  • One teaspoon of oil
  • Two pinches of garlic salt

Get a medium sized metal pan and line it with tin foil. This helps the asparagus not to stick. Wash your asparagus under cold water, shake the excess water from it, then take one and snap it. Where the asparagus naturally snaps is where you should cut the rest of the asparagus. Normally I just go ahead and snap each one individually or a small handful at a time instead of cutting, but some people preferring cutting. Place the asparagus in the pan, drizzle your oil, and sprinkle your garlic salt (it doesn’t take a lot with asparagus, just a touch). Get your hands dirty again and mix the asparagus together to make sure that they’re completely coated. Pop them into the same oven as the potatoes on a medium high rack and give them about thirty minutes or until they’re bright green and super tender. Stir once.

Simple Pork Chop

  • Boneless pork chops
  • Two tablespoons of oil
  • Salt, Pepper, Thyme

Since the potatoes and asparagus are going to have a distinct flavor, I didn’t want to add too much spices to the pork chops and overpower everything else. I kept it simple with some salt, pepper, and thyme, but feel free to season however you wish. Put your pan on the stove and add your oil, then heat it to medium. After a few minutes have passed, very carefully add your meat.

Sprinkle your salt, pepper, and thyme (or whatever spices you like) on your pork chop just before flipping. Be easy on your spices because you’ll probably end up spicing both sides since the oil ‘washes’ away some of the spices. Since the oil is hot by the time the meat goes in, it should give it a nice sear if you give it a few minutes. Keep flipping until the meat is golden brown on the edges (from the oil), but keep in mind that pork chop is just not going to brown much. It’s a white-pink meat and only needs to reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees (thank you USDA for the info) before it can be pulled off the heat. Then it needs to rest for three minutes before being consumed.  I cooked seven – two at a time – before the potatoes were finished so it shouldn’t take long at all.

This is something simple that sates everyone in our family. Even my picky eaters gobble it up! It’s like our chili recipe – simple enough to make on a regular basis, just switch out the asparagus for whatever vegetable is in season like acorn squash or green beans.

What’s your favorite meal to make on the fly? What are your favorite ingredients to keep stocked ‘just in case’?