Fight allergies with food

If you need me to tell you that it’s allergy season, then your allergies are probably not that ferocious. That’s because it is allergy season with a vengeance, and those who suffer are suffering mightily this month.

No one seems to have found a definitive way to cure the body’s response to the abundance of flora erupting at this time of year. There are shots and there are pills and there is some talk of sublingual drops that might be as good as or better than the shots. But in the end, there isn’t really that much to stand between your nose/throat and all that malevolent pollen.

This column normally concerns itself with the healing power of food, and there are certain nutritional steps that you can take to fortify your body. Empowering the immune system is always a good idea; at this time of year, strawberries are sweet, abundant and affordable and they are imbued with a powerful amount of C (eight strawberries provide 160 percent of the daily recommended dose).

Local honey is supposed to fortify you against the pollen in the air. It acts in a homeopathic fashion: By eating the offending pollen, and incorporating it into your body chemistry, you are theoretically telling your body that it doesn’t need to go into overdrive to fight those pollens (which the allergic body sees as dangerous interlopers that must be defeated with lots of unpleasant mucus).

Speaking of mucus, some sources suggest reducing the mucus-arousing foods in your diet, specifically cutting down on dairy products. If you’re worried about getting enough calcium when you drop milk from your diet, increase your intake of dark leafy greens such as spinach and broccoli raab.

A Web site called immunesupport.org strongly suggests eating foods (and taking supplements) that will increase your body’s supply of quercetin, a bioflavonoid that strengthens your cell membranes so that histamines and serotonin can’t “leak out†and cause the symptoms such as itching and sneezing that make this such a miserable time of year for many people.

Quercetin is found in red onions, apples, tea and broccoli; but apparently the body has trouble absorbing it. One way to improve absorption is by also eating pineapple and other foods with an enzyme called bromelain.

It’s hard to find a really good recipe that combines all those ingredients but the Food Network has one, developed by Sunny Anderson for Cooking for Real. The main ingredient is pork chops (and remember, swine flu can not be caught by eating pork!).

Pork chops with apples, pineapple and sage

Adapted from Cooking for Real

Serves four

4 1-inch thick pork chops

2 slices bacon, roughly chopped

1 large red onion, one half chopped and one half in wedges

4 sprigs fresh thyme, stripped and stem discarded

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1 tart apple, peeled, cored and sliced thin

2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4 cup orange juice

3/4 cup crushed pineapple with juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Canola oil

Zest of one lemon

2 teaspoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, sauté the bacon, chopped onions, thyme and sage until the bacon is almost crispy and the onions are beginning to caramelize around the edges. Remove to a bowl. Add apples, butter, one tablespoon each of pineapple and orange juice, and the cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool slightly.

Cut a slit into the pork chops by slicing them horizontally on one side and then liberally salt-and-pepper them. Stuff each chop with the apple mixture; hold the chops together with bamboo skewers.

Coat an ovenproof medium skillet with canola oil and sear both sides of the chops until golden brown, about four minutes on each side side.

Add 1 cup of the combined pineapple and orange juice and the remaining onion wedges around the chops. Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven until cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes, basting two to three times. Remove pork chops from pan and let rest 10 minutes.

Add the remaining pineapple and the orange juice and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook until reduced by half, about five minutes. Add lemon zest and parsley. Pour sauce over pork chops and serve.