Friday, January 6, 2012

Paesano Pork Chops

Ya know, it's just too hot to turn on the oven to cook......so I found this recipe that is made in the nuker (aka microwave)! I know.....I know......you're kind of skeptical about cooking meat, especially pork, in the nuker. Fear not! It gets done and it is yummy!!!!! I found this one on Men's Health. As usual, I'll give you the recipe the way it was/is and then my 'spin'.

PAESANO PORK CHOPS
Makes 4 Servings
1 Serving = 6 PointsPlus™

1 6-oz. can of tomato paste
1/4 cup low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing
4 boneless center cut pork chops (@ 1 lb. total)
2 cloves of garlic, minced (or @1/2 tsp minced)
1 TBSP chopped basil
In a 2-quart nuke-safe dish, mix tomato paste, vinaigrette dressing and garlic. Add chops, spreading sauce all over them. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and nuke for 8 - 10 minutes, stopping once halfway through to flip the chops and swap the ones in the center of the dish with those on the edges to ensure even cooking. When done, the chops will be just slightly pink in the middle (registering @145ºF on an instant-read thermometer <if you have one>) and the meat juices will run almost clear. Cover and set aside for 2 minutes -- the still-hot chops will finish cooking as they sit there. Serve with some of the sauce on top and garnish with chopped basil.

MY SPIN: You won't be able to see the meat juices 'run almost clear' or any other way thru the tomato paste! After garnishing with chopped basil, we sprinkled a little grated Parmesan cheese on them (just a little sprinkle....not enough to add a PointsPlus™ value). We also thought that since there was a good bit of the sauce left it would be good served over 'stink noodles' (Shirataki Noodles...tofu) which are Pointless ......seriously......a serving of 'stink noodles' has a zero PointsPlus™ value.

It's good stuff!

Now for the 'legal mumbo-jumbo' to keep me out of court! *The PointsPlus™ value for this recipe was calculated by me (Jan Gomes) and is not an endorsement or approval of this recipe by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the PointsPlus™ registered trademark.*

Later!
Loving Life(time)!
Jan


No comments:

Post a Comment