Smoked Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes

Semifinals. We lost. 24-21. I am going to write that plainly and let it sit there: we lost the semifinal. For the first time since I came to this school we will not play in the championship game. The team that beat us was good — genuinely good, the best non-Eldorado team I've faced here — and we played a clean game and came up short by three points and a missed field goal that I will see in my sleep for a month.

The locker room. I've been here before. I know what it smells like, the specific combination of sweat and silence and grief that fills the space when a season ends this way. The seniors who will not play football again here sat with their helmets in their laps. A junior who I've been watching develop since his freshman year cried without trying to hide it, which took more courage than most things I've seen on a football field.

I said what was true: this team showed us who we were and what this program is and neither of those things changes because of a field goal. I told the seniors that the work they did here was permanent — it lives in the younger players who watched them work, in the wins they built, in the culture they were part of. I meant it completely. I always mean these speeches completely or I don't give them.

Diego was quiet on the bus home. Not sullen — processing. He sat in the seat across the aisle from me for part of the ride. At some point he said, "We'll finish this next year." Not a question. A statement of fact. The fact of a seventeen-year-old who already knows who he is under disappointment. I put my hand on his shoulder briefly. He nodded. I went back to my film tablet. Some conversations are in the gesture.

I got home late. The house was quiet. I wasn’t ready to sit still yet, but I also didn’t have much left to give — I needed something I could make with my hands that didn’t ask too much of me. Smoked pork chops and sweet potatoes have become my answer for nights like this one: a little heat, a little sweetness, something substantial enough to feel like it’s actually holding you up. Diego said we’d finish it next year. I believe him. But first, you eat.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in smoked pork chops (about 6 oz each)
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Fresh thyme sprigs, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment.
Season the sweet potatoes. In a large bowl, toss the sweet potato cubes with olive oil, brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Start roasting. Spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through, until they begin to soften and caramelize at the edges.
Add the pork chops. Remove the pan from the oven and nestle the smoked pork chops among the sweet potatoes. Return to the oven and roast for another 12–15 minutes, until the chops are heated through and lightly browned and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
Rest and serve. Let the pork chops rest for 3 minutes before serving. Plate with the sweet potatoes alongside and garnish with fresh thyme if using.

Nutrition (per serving)

Smoked Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes — The Meal That Holds You After a Hard Night