AIP sheet pan pork chops with roasted root vegetables and plum compote

Cooking a second meal so everyone else at the table gets to eat what they are used to is one of the quieter costs of this protocol, and it wears on a person faster than any single ingredient restriction does. This sheet pan closes that gap for one night: bone-in chops, roasted carrots, parsnip, sweet potato, and Brussels sprouts, all finished with a warm plum compote standing in for barbecue sauce. Everything lands on one pan, everything is AIP, and nobody sitting down to eat has to know the difference.

Pork does the heavy lifting on zinc in this dish, linked to a steadier, better-regulated immune response, and the B-vitamins riding along with it help keep your energy from dropping by mid-afternoon. The roasted roots pick up color and char under that same heat, and the polyphenols behind that color are doing their own quiet work on a gut trying to calm down.

Source the pork where you can, from an animal raised with some real care, and let the plate show it: gold roots, a dark glossy compote, chops browned at the edges. A dinner that looks this good does its work without needing to announce it.

Ingredients

For the chops and vegetables:

• 4 bone-in pork chops (about 2 lb total, 1 to 1.5 inches thick)
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 parsnip or turnip, cut into chunks
• 1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
• 10 to 12 Brussels sprouts, halved
• Coconut oil, melted, for tossing
• Sea salt
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Dried rosemary

For the plum compote:

• 3 plums, diced
• 1 tbsp honey
• A little water
• 1/2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin (or 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch)

Method

Heat the oven to 450 F. Toss the cut vegetables with melted coconut oil, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried rosemary. Spread them on a sheet pan without crowding, using two pans if you need to, and roast 15 to 20 minutes until just tender.

While they roast, rub the pork chops with a little more coconut oil and the same seasonings. Pull the pan out, push the vegetables toward the center, and lay the chops on top. Roast another 15 to 18 minutes, until the chops reach 145 F internal.

For the compote, bloom the gelatin in a little cold water, then melt it gently over low heat. Add a splash more water, the honey, and the diced plums, cover, and cook about 10 minutes, stirring now and then. It will thicken as it cools. If you are using tapioca starch instead, stir it into the warm plum mixture rather than blooming it first.

Serve the chops topped with the warm plum compote, the roasted vegetables alongside.

Air fryer variation

If you would rather do the chops in the air fryer, roast the vegetables in the oven as above. Season the chops, lay them in the air fryer basket without overlapping, and cook at 375 F for about 10 to 14 minutes, flipping halfway, until they reach 145 F internal. Thicker chops need the longer end. This conversion is ARM-derived and untested, so check it the first time. Make the compote on the stovetop as written.

*Adapted from asquirrelinthekitchen.com*