Recipe: Pork & Apple Fajitas (a.k.a, Christmas Came Early!)

Because I’m still dealing with my broken toe/metatarsal issues and had a lot of post-yard sale clean-up & Christmas decorating to do, I held off on having my celebratory dinner until this evening.  As many of you regulars know, I love celebrating momentous occasions with some fabulous dish, and this definitely qualifies as one.  But because I’m working only with serious bare-bones food until at least the middle of January – minus some good stuff I still had in the freezer – I didn’t want to break into said good stuff until I had a good reason to do so.  I had some nice boneless pork chops in the freezer and plenty of crisp, juicy Braeburn apples in Big Bowl, so I thought I’d make something delicious with this classic ingredient combo.  But I didn’t want to make the usual pork chops & applesauce (insert Peter Brady impression here); I wanted something different with a bit more kick and pork & apple fajitas seemed like the perfect solution.

I’d been flirting with the idea of making this dish for a while and I’m glad I finally made it happen.  It’s hearty and tasty, the crisp sweetness of the apples accented by brown sugar creating the perfect accompaniment to the cumin-spiced pork & aromatic veggies.  The dish is special enough to be celebration dinner-worthy but easy enough to whip up quickly on a weeknight.  And because the pork has been sliced into strips and mixed with plenty of veggies and fruit, this is not only a flavorful dinner but a filling one that will serve at least three people generously.  This is a great way to remember to think outside the box – or the plastic-wrapped meat package – to make the most out of the little bit you have.