Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops by Rachel

Growing up in an asian household, I had pork often.  Now that I'm making food choices for myself, I try not to indulge in too much pork just to keep my meals low fat and to give myself room for the desserts and baked goods that I love so much, but every now and then, I just want a nice pork chop.  Pork chops aren't always my first choice because if not cooked right, pork chops can be very dry.  I'm not the kind of girl that eats apple sauce with my pork chops so I need my pork chops to be sweet and juicy on their own.  What's the secret?

BRINING.  Brining means that you're marinating the meat in a salty solution overnight.  It traps in flavors into the pork chop and keeps the meat moist.  Know that if you want to make this recipe you will need at least a day because the pork needs to brine OVERNIGHT.

Ingredients for the Brine- Per Pork Chop (I bought two bone-in pork chops that were about 1/2 lb each)

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1/2  teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
canola oil for cooking

Pork Loin Cutlets with Sage and Lemon Breadcrumbs by Heather

This is a really easy weeknight dish.  All things said and done, you can have this ready in about 25-30 minutes.  I serve this dish with a side of broccolini, which I've cut into 1 inch size pieces, and steamed in a bowl with a lid in the microwave for two minutes.  It doesn't get any easier than this.



Ingredients:

6 thin cut pork loin cutlets, trimmed of any fat around the edges
3 tbs. sage, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 14 oz. jar tomato sauce (I like using Muir Glen)