Dinner tonight... Crispy Apricot Pork Chops and Green Beans with Orange Sauce

Boneless porn loin chops were on sale this week, so as I was making my weekly meal plan, I went in search of a recipe that might work. I turned to my Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook (yes, they have a cookbook, too!) and came across what looked to be a very simple recipe for Crispy Apricot Pork Chops.


The ingredients were few: bone-in pork chops, breadcrumbs, olive oil and apricot jam. And the preparation was easy: pat the pork loins dry, spoon 1 tsp. of apricot jam over each one, top with breadcrumbs that have been moistened with a little olive oil, bake at 425 for 14-16 minutes until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees. I'm glad I gave it a shot, as it was as tasty as it was simple to make. The recipe calls for making your own breadcrumbs but I cheated and used plain Progresso. I also baked them on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray to minimize clean-up. The end result was truly delicious and I could see using the same technique with chicken as well as changing up the apricot jam for peach or cherry. A great recipe for nights when you need dinner to come together quickly.

The cookbook suggested pairing the pork chops with Baby Broccoli with Orange Sauce. This would have been ideal except that Mr. Fritz doesn't like broccoli. (The texture doesn't appeal to him. This may become a problem as we start to rack up years as married people. Who can survive without broccoli?) In any case, the sauce looked too good to pass up, so I used it to top green beans (a Mr. Fritz-approved green vegetable) instead. The sauce, which is made with orange juice, balsamic vinegar and a thinly sliced shallot, reduced on the stove for several minutes, was really tasty. I think it would work on any green vegetable: asparagus, sugar snap peas, etc. Both of these recipes will definitely be making repeat appearances in the future.