This Little Piggy . . .

Fast and Fancy Onion Smothered Pork Cutlets with Sautéed Kale and Peas

This is an extremely fast, yet surprisingly elegant, meal. I got home tonight at 5:50 . . . by 6:20 I sat down to a great dinner! Pork is a fantastically versatile protein to include in your regular dinner rotation. I find that it lends itself particularly well to hints of sweetness- caramelized onions, for example, are the perfect compliment to this marvelous meat. A generous helping of hearty greens adds a healthy dose of fiber and antioxidants to the meal. This is a very fast meal (the thin sliced pork cutlets brown up in no time at all) for weeknight family dinners, but it also makes a very pretty plate for guests served with a big glass of white wine.

Ingredients
- 8 pork cutlets, sliced thin (about 1/2"), seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 3 large sweet yellow onions, peeled and sliced crosswise into disks
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. dry vermouth
- salt and pepper
- 1 shallot, peeled and diced
- 3 bunches kale, rinsed, stems removed, and torn into pieces
- 1/4 c. dry white wine
- 1 c. frozen peas, defrosted

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. While oven is heating, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until onions soften and are turning brown, lower heat. Just before serving, add vermouth to onions and simmer for about 2-3 minutes until liquid soaks into onions. Remove from heat.

While onions are cooking, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, sear pork cutlets (about 1 minute per side). Transfer cutlets to an oven proof baking dish and finish cooking in oven for about 10 minutes. Remove cutlets from oven and tent with foil until serving.

While cutlets are in the oven, add remaining olive oil to pork cutlet skillet and heat over medium. Add white wine and shallots, stir over heat and scrape brown bits from bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add peas to pan. Working in three batches, cook kale in skillet, covered, for about 2 minutes per batch, allowing kale to soften before adding new batch. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Remove kale and cooked onions from heat. Plate the meal by portioning out kale, then top with 2 pork cutlets. Top with caramelized onions. Enjoy! It's really good and delicious. Pork cutlets are thin, so two per serving will do it for a filling meal for four.