Pan-fried pork chops with stuffed red peppers

I was feeling adventurous today and decided to try something new: stuffed red peppers. Since they take the most amount of time, start with them. You can quickly prepare the chops while the peppers are cooking and fry the pork chops just before you broil the peppers.  Add a nice salad as a side, or maybe even rice or quinoa and you have a very filling meal!

Pan-fried Pork Chops

4 fast-fry pork chops

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

olive oil and butter, for frying

Heat oil in large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot enough and just before you put the pork chops in, put 1 tbsp butter in the pan and give the pan a stir to mix the oil and butter. (This will add some flavour and nice colour to the chops while they fry.)

Mix together flour and seasoning. Place pork chops, one at a time, in the flour and cover completely. (I like to place the flour on a sheet of wax paper, put the chop in and lift the sides of the paper to cover the chop in the flour mixture.)  Put the chops in the oil and fry two chops at a time until brown on one side, then flip over.  Cook until golden on the other side and chop is cooked through.  Remove from the pan and place on a plate with paper towels.  Repeat steps with the other two chops.

Serves 4

Stuffed Red Peppers

2 large red peppers, cored and seeded, cut in half lengthwise

1 medium-sized eggplant, cut into 1" pieces

1 small onion, chopped in small pieces

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

salt

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1/4 cup tomato sauce (or marinara)

1/4 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup havarti cheese, thinly grated

Preheat oven to 400F.  Spray a small pan or baking sheet with oil.  Place red pepper halves in the pan, cut side up; drizzle with olive oil.  Cook in oven for approximately 20 minutes, until peppers are tender. Remove from oven.

Meanwhile heat some vegetable oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat.  Place onions, garlic and eggplant pieces in the skillet and cook, approximately 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. After about 10 minutes, season with salt and basil; stir. When the eggplant has softened and broken down, add the sauce and oregano.  Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup cheese; set aside. Set your oven to broil.

Spoon equal amounts of eggplant mixture into each red pepper half.  Cover with bread crumb-cheese mixture; drizzle with olive oil. Place pan back in oven, close to the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes  until the top has browned - keep a close eye or they will burn!  Sprinkle remaining cheese over each half and put back in the oven to quickly melt cheese.

Serves 4.

Baked Tilapia & Baby Spinach Salad

Today was a quiet day at home. I had purchased some tilapia fillets at Costco and decided today would be a good day to make them.  The original recipe I wanted to try had to be tossed aside when I realized I used all our eggs for our Canada vs. Sweden Olympic Gold hockey game French Toast breakfast (which turned out so delicious by the way!).  I will save that recipe for another time as I have 3 more fillets sitting in the freezer, but this recipe was so good I will definitely be making it again.  The fish cook so quickly and this topping is the right mix of texture and tang and moistness!  The fish doesn't taste very fishy - which is a good thing because we aren't really a seafood household! My daughter who has tended to be a pickier eater when it comes to meats, ate up this fish so quickly.  My husband made some fries in the Acti-fry and I made a spinach salad to go alongside (recipe below). It was a very filling and satisfying lunch.  Next time I might make more of the topping as the fillets were quite large and weren't completely covered.

Baked Tilapia

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 tbsp Greek yogurt

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 tbsp fresh lemon (or lime) juice

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 tilapia fillets

1. Preheat the broiler in your oven. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl, mix together cheese, butter, yogurt and bread crumbs.  Add remaining ingredients (except the fillets) and mix well. Set aside.

3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.  On the second top rack of your oven, broil the fillets for 4 minutes.  Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the cheese mixture.  Broil for another 3-4 minutes, or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.  Do not overcook the fish.

Serves 4

Baby Spinach Salad

My friend made a version of this salad when we were over her house and my husband loved it.  You can really do any variations with it, but the dressing is what really makes it.  I have made this with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or any combo of those three.  I have also included walnuts or pecans (toasted or candied).  And you can throw in Feta cheese or not.  Today's recipe was not fortunate to have all the lovely toppings - simply strawberries and blackberries with the baby spinach.

I don't really use measurements for the ingredients, except for the dressing as the ratio is really important.

Dressing:

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup

black pepper

Whisk ingredients together and dress your salad.

The cheese-yogurt mixture before it goes on the fish.

The baked fish.

Baked tilapia on top of a warm quinoa "salad."