Barbecue Rubbed Pork Chops

These Barbecue Rubbed Pork Chops from Cooking Light are a staple in my house. They make for a quick weeknight meal and are very juicy and flavorful. I stock up my freezer with pork chops when they are on sale, and I have all of the other ingredients in my pantry so the lack of planning required is a big bonus for me. The only changes I make to the recipe are that I add extra brown sugar if I'm in the mood to make it a little sweeter or extra ground red pepper if I want something spicier, I add more rub each time I turn the meat, and if I have onions on hand I slice them up and grill them with the meat and rub.

I usually serve this with the grilled sweet potatoes from this post or just microwave a sweet potato (poke some holes with a fork and microwave 5 minutes, flip it over and cook for 5 more minutes), but tonight I wanted to make whatever side I could find at the small farmers market outside of my building. So red potatoes and random ingredients from my fridge resulted in mashed red potatoes with spinach and mascarpone cheese. The recipe is below.

Easy Baked Fish Fillets

Easy Baked Fish Fillets

This recipe from MyRecipes.com is a perfect weeknight meal.  I'm training for a triathlon right now so by the time I get home from the office, workout and am finally ready to cook I'm looking for something quick and easy like this recipe.  The recipe calls for Grouper, or any white fish really.  Pollock was on sale at my store and it looked white so I went with that.  I've never had it before, but wikipedia tells me it's a cheap substitution for Cod or Haddock.  The recipe calls for drizzling it with butter before placing it in the oven, but I sprayed it with a little cooking spray instead.  It turned out well, and I'll definitely be making it again.  Although, next time I will most likely use panko breadcrumbs.  

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb

It's going to be a hectic week of eating leftovers and takeout, so I thought I'd share this lamb recipe from Cooking Light that I made this summer.  Lamb is delicious, and this is an easy recipe that would be perfect to serve to any meat lovers you have over for dinner.  Since it was summer time and Jersey tomatoes and sweet corn were fresh, I layered sliced tomatoes, onions, avocado, and corn (cut off the cob) to have on the side.

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas & Guacamole

MyRecipes Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

I saw this recipe from Cooking Light and I've had my eye on it for awhile.  I decided not to wait until the summer vegetables were actually ready, so I used a can of corn instead of fresh corn off the cob.  I also used pepper jack cheese in lieu of monterey jack cheese to add a little extra flavor, and as you can see in the picture I probably could have used less cheese.  A lot of the reviews said that the bottom of the tostadas were soggy, so to prevent that I broiled both sides of the tortilla and there were no issues with sogginess.  When I re-heat the leftovers I'm going to add a little tabasco to the chicken and vegetable mixture to add a little spice.  I can't wait to try this one again when summer vegetables are fresh at the farmer's market.

I love my molcajete, it's a completely unnecessary but fun addition to my kitchen.  I make pretty standard guacamole; 2 avocadoes, a handful or two of chopped tomatoes, a handful of chopped onions, 1 chopped jalapeño, some cilantro, and kosher salt.  This Molcajete link on Williams-Sonoma has a helpful video of how to whip up some guacamole with the mortar and pestle.  I've also decided that it's impossible to get an appetizing picture of guacamole.

Smoky Slow Cooker Chili

I'm on a quest to find a really good chili recipe, this Smoky Slow Cooker Chili was a step in the right direction.  I did most of the prep the night before, and then put everything in the slow cooker before heading to work.  I followed the recipe for the most part; I did add some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, cayenne pepper, more chili powder, and used brown sugar instead of regular.  Our first serving we forgot to add the lime, but don't worry we had seconds and remembered the lime, which added a really nice touch.  Next time I will add more beans, I'm debating whether it's more pinto or if I should add kidney beans or black beans.

Thai Style Chicken

MyRecipes Thai Style Chicken

Dinner was Thai Style chicken with a lot of changes based on what I had on hand at home. I doubled the coconut milk, increased Red Curry Paste to 2-3 TB, sliced up the chicken breast, no cliantro, 1 TB of soy sauce instead of fish sauce, and edamame on the side instead of roasted red peppers.

Wine was 2005 Montessa Rioja, it was pretty average.