Creamy Spinach Stuffed Pork Chops

July 24, 2013 by 3 Comments

 

So everyone knows the  stereotypical pregnancy craving – pickles and ice cream. But, do you think anyone has ever actually craved that combination?? I’ve wanted some interesting combinations, but definitely not that interesting. My cravings usually come in the form of a specific dish and not necessarily bizarre combinations (though I have discovered that ranch and Italian dressing are delicious when combined).

One specific dish that I was craving last week was creamed spinach. When it came down to actually putting my meal plan together, I wanted to mix it up a bit. I decided a sturdy pork chop would be the perfect vehicle for the creamed spinach. Jesse loves pork chops so of course he was excited to see this on the menu, he even went back for seconds so I know he was fan. I liked the way the spinach tasted with the pork, but I have to be honest and admit that the filling was my favorite. 🙂

Creamy Spinach Stuffed Pork Chops

Ingredients
4 thick cut pork chops
salt and pepper
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cups frozen spinach, thawed then excess liquid squeezed out
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a casserole dish with cooking spray.

Cut a deep pocket in each of the thick cut pork chops. Season the outside generously with salt and pepper. Set aside. To remove excess liquid from the thawed spinach, gather in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze until no more liquid comes out.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the olive oil. Add the spinach and onion and saute for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, seasonings, salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds-1 minute. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted and combined, then stir in the Parmesan.

Spoon the spinach mixture into the pockets of the pork chops and place in the casserole dish (if you can, stand them up on the thick flat side so the filling is at the top). Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degrees in the thickest part of the chop.

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

 Other tasty pork recipes!

Barbeque Pork Tenderloin Wrapsk
Island Pork Tenderloin
Ribs
Garlic and Herb Crusted Pork Loin
 

Filed Under: Main Course, Pork Tagged With: , , ,

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

April 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Up until a few weeks into my second trimester I had a major aversion to chicken. Just the thought of it icked me out. The first time I noticed the aversion was when I was having lunch with a friend and I ordered a buffalo chicken wrap. I took one bite, looked at my friend, covered my mouth with a napkin and said, “Sorry”. I wound up picking out all of the chicken (and half of the lettuce). Next time we went for lunch I asked them to replace the chicken with beans (yeah, that’s right, I ordered a buffalo bean wrap, and it was delicious!).

I am finally over that crazy aversion and we’re back to having chicken several nights a week. Of course it’s easy for things to get repetitive when you eat chicken for dinner several times a week, so I’m always trying to think up new ways to use it. What better way to spice up chicken than to add buffalo sauce? To mix it up even more I decided to stuff the chicken in pasta shells. The result was fantastic! We absolutely loved this dinner, hope you do too!

 

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

Ingredients
~20 large pasta shells
1 15 oz container part skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp blue cheese crumbles
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 green onion, finely diced
1/2 oz (1/2 packet) Ranch seasoning packet
1/4 – 1/2 cup Buffalo sauce (You can try making your own or use something like Franks)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 small chicken breast, cooked and chopped/shredded*
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt
Cheddar cheese, blue cheese crumbles, green onion, celery, and additional buffalo sauce for topping

*You can poach the chicken, bake the chicken, pick it off a store bought chicken or use left over shredded chicken. Whatever is easiest for you!

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a casserole dish by spraying with nonstick cooking spray.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta shells just a minute shy of directions on box. (This makes them easier to handle when you’re stuffing them, they will finish cooking in the oven). Once their finished, drain them and rinse with cold water.

While the shells are boiling, combine the ricotta, blue cheese, celery, green onion, ranch seasoning packet, 1/4 cup of Buffalo in a large bowl. Taste the filling and add more Buffalo sauce if you would like it spicier. Once the filling suits your taste, mix in the egg. Add the cooked chopped chicken to the bowl and stir to combine.

Fill the shells with filling and place in the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with additional buffalo sauce and top with cheddar cheese and additional blue cheese crumbles. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 18 minutes. In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the melted butter, Panko, parsley, garlic powder, and salt. After 18 minutes, remove shells from oven and sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over the shells. Bake uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the bread crumbs start to turn golden brown. (If you’re careful and keep an eye on it you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two at the end).

Top with additional green onions and diced celery. Serve hot with extra Buffalo sauce, Ranch, and a salad on the side

Sunny Side Up original

Check out these other tasty Buffalo recipes, too!

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Buffalo Chicken Bites
Homemade Spicy Garlic Buffalo Sauce
Buffalo Chicken Sliders
 

Filed Under: Cheese, Chicken, Dinner, Easy Weeknight Dinner, Main Course, Pasta, Poultry Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Greek Turkey Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

February 27, 2013 by 4 Comments

Despite the fact that the last 4 recipes I have posted have all been desserts, we are actually eating real food too! In fact we’ve had quite a few good meals lately. Unfortunately for the blog we’ve been eating when it’s already dark and my attempts at photographing food with an external flash have come up a little short lately. The good news is that one of our delicious dinners made for pretty delicious lunch leftovers, and I finally was able to get a decent photo. The sun is starting to stay out a little later so hopefully this won’t be an issue for too much longer!

These are flavorful and good-for-you meatballs. On the first night, I served them with roasted potatoes and asparagus (probably not Greek…). For lunch, I laid them on a bed of lettuce, onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes, and served them with (homemade!) pita bread. It was delicious both ways. I actually loved the way the roasted potatoes and asparagus tasted when dipped in the tzatziki sauce. But I also really loved the way the pita bread tasted with the tzatziki sauce. Win win situation if you ask me!

Note: I found the turkey meatball recipe over on Skinny Taste and she also had a tzatziki sauce recipe, but I’m a huge fan of  Elly’s recipe so I stuck with that. Below both recipes are listed as I made them.

Greek Turkey Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

Greek Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
1 1/4  lbs 93% lean ground turkey
1 cup grated zucchini, liquid squeezed out*
2 slices whole wheat bread
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 large egg, lightly stirred with a fork
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1/4 red onion, grated
1 tbsp dry oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
kosher salt and fresh pepper
Nonstick cooking spray or olive oil for cooking
1 batch Tzatziki sauce (recipe below)

*I measured a loose cup of zucchini then squeezed out the excess liquid using a clean kitchen towel.

Directions
Tear slices of wheat of bread into small pieces and place in the bottom of a large mixing bowl (or bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment). Add the ground turkey, grated zucchini, seasoned breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, grated onion, oregano, parsley, s&p, and olive oil. Mix well with (clean) hands (or turn mixer on low and stir until combined).

Roll meatballs into desired size (anywhere from cookie scoop size or 1/4 cup size).

Spray a nonstick cooking pan with non stick spray. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook over medium heat for about 7-8 minutes, flipping after about 4 minutes (may take a little more or less time depending on size of meatballs). Alternatively, you could cook them on a George Foreman, panini press, or Cuisinart 5-in-1 griddler. Just keep an eye on them so as not to over or under cook!

Source: Skinny Taste

Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
1-32 oz. container of 2% Greek yogurt
1 large or 2 medium cucumbers
3-5 cloves garlic–depending how garlicky you like it, crushed or pressed
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp  fresh lemon juice
salt and a little pepper
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Pour off any excess liquid from yogurt.  Peel and seed cucumber then grate with a cheese grater. Using a clean kitchen towel, squeeze out the liquid from the cucumber. When you think you got it all out, squeeze it some more!

Sitr together the Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, crushed garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil when you’re ready to serve.

Source: Elly Says Opa

 

 

Filed Under: Lunch, Main Course, Poultry Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Slow Cooker Chicken and Quinoa Chili

January 29, 2013 by 6 Comments

Even living in a slightly warmer climate, there’s just something about winter that makes me crave hearty, warm, soups and chilis. These warm and hearty dinners are even better when they basically prepare themselves. That’s one of the things I loved about this chili. I literally threw all of the ingredients in my slowcooker and let time do the rest. The other great thing about this chili is that its good for you! Loaded with good for you quinoa, black beans, tomatoes, and corn and have very minimal fat (especially if you top it with nonfat Greek yogurt and low fat cheese!). Oh, and they go perfectly with those Cheddar Jalapeno Drop Biscuits I posted last week!

I was excited when I found this recipe, but of course I had to make a few adjustments. First, I like a bit of smokey spicy taste to my chili, so I replaced the bell pepper with chipotle pepper. Second, I upped the smokey flavor by using fire-roasted tomatoes. If you can’t find fire-roasted tomatoes (or don’t care for them) you can of course use regular tomatoes, but I really loved the flavor they added. I also cut back just a bit on the chicken stock and added some tomato paste. I wanted a thick chili and I think the result was really great. Finally, I had a huge split chicken breast thawed, so I used that instead of boneless skinless. I’m sure the bones helped to add a little bit of flavor, but to be honest the breast was so tender it just fell away from the bones, and it was kind of a pain making sure that I got all of them out of the thick chili. Next time I’ll probably go the boneless skinless route (and the recipe below will reflect that).

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Quinoa Chili

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 28 oz can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, with juices
1 16 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
1 4 oz can diced green chiles, with juices
1 4 oz can tomato paste
2 16 oz cans black bean, drained
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
1 tsp dry minced onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream (or Greek yogurt!), shredded cheese, fresh chopped cilantro, hot sauce, biscuits – for serving

Directions
Throw all of the ingredients in a Crockpot/slow cooker (6 qt size). Cook on low for 5-7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with forks, then return to chili. Reduce heat to warm until ready serve. Serve with sour cream (or greek yogurt!), cheese, cilantro, hot sauce, and/or biscuits.

Adapted from Sweet Treats & More

 

Filed Under: Crockpot, Healthier, Soup Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,