weeknight meal

Putting together a meal is all about planning, organization and execution. Here in New Jersey, food flyers arrive in the mail on Thursday for sales starting on Friday or Monday. Whole Foods sales are uploaded on their website or app Wednesday morning and go through the following Tuesday. You look what’s on sale, find a recipe that can be done in under 45 minutes, purchase the ingredients and you’ll have a quick, nutritious meal. There are many websites that can provide you with quick and easy recipes and I find The NY Times Cooking app and epicurious.com very good resources. You also need to have pantry staples in which to make this process easier too. 

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If you have a smart phone, both apps can create a shopping list or you can just pull up the recipe on your phone while at your favorite food store. As it’s just my husband and I, the past few years I sometimes do my meal planning on the fly. I know what’s on sale and may purchase my protein on the day I’m going to prepare it. However, I still spend time reviewing sales flyers and making a shopping list.  Folks, make it simple, find the food store that has the products you like, good prices and isn’t out of your way.

This week at Whole Foods, one Prime Member special is boneless pork loin chops for $4.99/lb. (regular price $8.99/lb.)  On The NY Times Cooking app I found a recipe by Melissa Clark for  One-Pan Pork Chops with Feta, Snap Peas and Mint. Although Ms. Clark’s recipe calls for bone-in, I substituted the boneless. It serves 3 to 4 people and takes 25 minutes. I would add another 5-10 minutes to prep the snap peas (trimming), scallions (slicing), basil or mint (chopping) and juicing a lemon.

This recipe was quite easy to prepare. Once the prep was done, it was time to brown the pork chops (4-5 minutes on each side, then covered for additional 3 minutes). Next was lightly sautéing the scallions (cook time 2-3 minutes), then adding the snap peas, basil, pinch of red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. To complete the dish, the pork chops are placed back in the pan with the feta crumbles sprinkled on top then covered for another 3 to 6 minutes. A drizzle of lemon juice before serving and the meal is complete. How easy is this?

My husband raved about this dish. He couldn’t believe the combination of flavors would taste so delicious. You had a hint of saltiness front the feta, crunch from the snap peas and the basil gave the dish a slight pepper taste. Overall a winner!