Dinner tonight...Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken, Jasmine Rice and Steamed Green Beans

Tonight's meal came together in about 20 minutes -- can't beat that. I started by getting a pot of jasmine rice cooking on the stove. The kitchen almost immediately began smelling wonderfully fragrant, which put me in a happy mood as I continued to prepare the various parts.

Next, I set a steamer over an inch or so of water in a saute pan and steamed the green beans for five or so minutes. As soon as the green beans were on the stove, I put the chicken in the oven.

By the time the rice was finished (it takes about 15 minutes to simmer to completion), the chicken was nearly there (I roasted it for 10 minutes at 350), and the green beans were finished steaming, just waiting to be plated (and once they were plated, I sprinkled them with powdered ginger and spritzed fresh lime juice over them, along with salt and pepper). Easy peasy. An all around tasty meal and one I would definitely make again.


A couple of notes: the recipe for Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken is pretty simple, but I simplified it even more by roasting instead of broiling, and by spreading the apricot jam onto the chicken before sliding it into the oven, versus midway through the cooking process.

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.