Herbed Quinoa

I'm trying to learn to love quinoa. I know it's good for me and I like it most of the time but I don't love it yet. I guess that's because I'm still convinced that it's supposed to taste like pasta and I am caught off guard each time I make it and it ends up tasting like a grain instead. For me, the trick is adding some more flavor to it - like the herbs and garlic in this recipe - to hide the 'grainy' taste. This recipe turned out to be a keeper... I even ate it for leftovers the next night {which is saying something in this house!}. The original recipe can be found here - I changed the cooking process a tiny bit because I didn't want raw garlic in my dinner.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash fresh lemon juice
zest of half a lemon 

Directions: 

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 12 minutes; add minced garlic. Continue cooking additional 2-3 minutes or until quinoa is tender and garlic is softened.

In a bowl, toss quinoa together with parsley, thyme, salt, and zest. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve.

Herb Crusted Pork Chops

I'm dieting.

I hate dieting... mostly because I love food. But also partly because I hate being told what to do {or what not to do}. But I want to lose this baby weight and if I'm going to put in the effort to work out then I'm also going to do my best to not eat an entire pizza at each meal. I've been hunting for recipes that are light, healthy, and still have flavor so I can trick my brain into thinking that I'm still making delicious meals worthy of the excitement and effort that I usually reserve for Alfredo sauce and deep fried anything... and this pork chop recipe was a mighty tasty way to kick off my diet. I found the original recipe here and tweaked it just a little to make it my own {read: I added cheese}. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops, fat trimmed

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Rub mustard evenly over pork chops.  Combine panko, thyme, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; dredge pork chops in panko mixture.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan and swirl to coat.  Add pork chops, saute for 2 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn pork over and place skillet in oven for about 8 minutes or until pork reaches 145 degrees in the center.