Fred Tasker’s wine suggestion: The herbal pesto would go well with an herbal white sauvignon blanc.
Helpful hint
• Two tablespoons prepared pesto sauce is used in the recipe. The remaining pesto sauce can be saved in the refrigerator or frozen for future use.
Countdown
• Place water for couscous on to boil.
• Prepare ingredients for both recipes.
• When water boils, add couscous.
• Saute pork.
• Finish couscous.
This meal contains 547 calories per serving with 30 percent of calories from fat.
Pesto Pork Chops
3/4 lb. boneless pork chops
2 Tbsp. flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil spray
2 Tbsp. prepared pesto sauce
Remove visible fat from pork. Add flour to a plate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Coat both sides of the pork with the flour and shake off any excess. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add pork chops and brown 2 minutes. Turn and brown 2 minutes. Spread the pesto sauce over the pork chops, cover with a lid and cook 2 minutes. The pork will be juicy and not dried. A meat thermometer should ready 145 degrees. Makes 2 servings.
Per serving: 337 calories (41 percent from fat), 15.4 g fat (3.3 g saturated, 6.6 g monounsaturated), 124 mg cholesterol, 39.8 g protein, 7.6 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 200 mg sodium.
Tomato Couscous
1 cup water
1/2 cup plain couscous
1/2 cup drained, canned, no-salt-added, diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. shredded, part-skim milk mozzarella cheese
Bring water to a boil. Add couscous, cover with a lid and remove from the heat. Let sit 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper to taste and toss with a fork. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Makes 2 servings.
Per serving: 210 calories (11 percent from fat), 2.6 g fat (1.5 g saturated, 0.7 g monounsaturated), 9 mg cholesterol, 9.5 g protein, 36.6 g carbohydrates, 3.0 g fiber, 98 mg sodium.
Shopping list
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for tonight’s Dinner in Minutes.
To buy: 3/4 lb. boneless pork chops, 1 small container pesto sauce, 1 small box plain couscous, 1 small can no-salt-added, diced tomatoes, 1 bottle dried oregano, 1 small package shredded part skim milk mozzarella cheese and olive oil spray.
Staples: Flour, salt and black peppercorns.
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