Lemon-Parsley Pork Chops

The picture with the recipe looked much prettier. But Memorial Day weekend was georgeous and we had been driving all day (to Cincinnati to go to the new IKEA and back) so I wanted simple for dinner so we could have time to sit out on our porch and enjoy the weather while it lasted.

The Lemon-Parsley Pork Chops were light and refreshing and came together in a snap. Just season, sear, add some water and a lid and let the pork cook away, creating it's own delcious sauce. Combine some parsley lemon zest, salt, pepper and minced garlic to make the pork's topping. Simple.

I made a green salad and some boiled fresh corn on the cob to round out the meal. I love effortless meals.

Nutritional Info: Coming Soon.

Parmesan Risotto-Stuffed Portobellos

I've been rediscovering the bulk bins lately. Last week I found short-grain brown rice at Whole Foods. Arborio rice, the white rice usually in risotto is a short grain rice, so I thought I could make a brown rice risotto.

I saw this parmesan risotto on the Cooking Light website and thought I would try to modify it to Core. I'd use brown rice and skip the mozzarella. I'd just count points for the parm and skip the wine and up the broth. Sounds like it would work, right?

After 20 minutes the rice was still hard as a rock.

Duh.

Brown rice takes longer to cook. But after 55 minutes of cooking time, it was still pretty crunchy. I was so frustrated I ended up baking the mushrooms without the risotto stuffed in them and just spooned the risotto on top at the end.

And it was still crunchy. Oh well. The flavor was good.

Anyone have a good brown rice risotto recipe?

Spicy Vegetable Ragout over Polenta

This spicy vegetable ragout not only sounded good, it was highly rated on Cooking Light's website. That's why when I took a spoonful of ragout and tasted it while it was cooking, I was confused. It was bland and flavorless.

How did it get such good reviews? It tasted awful. Well, not inedible, but it wasn't something I wanted to eat.

But I misjudged the dish. When paired with the polenta, the ragout came alive. It was not longer the bland vegetable dish I was so worried about. What a relief. I was afraid this dish would be a dumper. I've made only one thing in two years that was bad enough to dump in the trash and I was hoping this one wouldn't break my streak.

In the interest of time, I didn't use broiled polenta. I left the polenta soft. You could also use premade polenta in a log and broil that.. but because the vegetables are so bland, it's really a better idea to make the polenta yourself. If you're on Core, like me, you'll have to use ff parm or soy parm to make it completely Core. Otherwise, you can do what I did and count points for the cheese.