Creole Pork Chops With Pineapple-Mango Salsa – 719woman.com
Beet greens? Yes, beet greens. One of my new favorite foods. And since you have the greens when you buy fresh beets, I consider them a free food. (I used to throw them away, not knowing you could eat them.) Along with the greens we’re cooking pork chops (on sale for $1.99 a pound at Safeway,) with a fresh salsa of mangos and pineapple (mango on sale for $1.00 at King Soopers,) and sliced, baked potatoes. We’re also making an easy Creole spice that we’ll use as a rub for the chops. I bought all my spices at the Dollar Tree for a dollar each. We’re cooking the chops in a skillet but feel free to grill them instead. The potatoes take maybe an extra 5 minutes to make this way versus just baking them but they turn out so fancy looking and are delicious. This entire meal, with the beet greens considered a “free” ingredient, came in at $7.72 for a family of four. If you add in the price for the beets, the meal still comes in under $10. And by the way, there’s some great-looking beets at our local Farmers Markets or you can pick them up on sale at Albertsons for $1.99 (for a bunch of 4.) *Your potatoes take the longest time to cook so put them in the oven first.
CREOLE PORK CHOPS WITH PINEAPPLE-MANGO SALSA –
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 6 to 10 minutes Serves: 4 for approx. $6.51
FOR THE PORK CHOPS –
Ingredients:
4 pork chops (I used assorted, bone-in)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
Creole seasoning (recipe below)
Pineapple-Mango Salsa (recipe below)
Directions:
Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. While the pan is heating, rub Creole seasoning into chops (both sides.) Increase heat to medium-high and add chops. Cook, turning once, about 3 minutes per side. When plating, you can add a scoop of salsa on top of each chop, or on the side.
CREOLE SEASONING –
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Mix all the ingredients together. Makes 2/3 cup, which you can store in an airtight container. This tastes great on steak and fish too.
PINEAPPLE-MANGO SALSA –
Ingredients:
1/2 can of pineapple tidbits (I used 1/2 of a 20 ounce can)
1/2 mango, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix the pineapple, mango, red onion and cilantro together. Cover and chill till ready to use. Gluten free and vegan.
SLICED BAKED POTATOES –
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Serves: 4 for approx. 96 cents
*I bought potatoes on sale at Albertsons for $2.99 for a 10 pound bag and my butter was on sale for $2.50.
Ingredients:
4 potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash potatoes. You can peel them if you want but I leave the skin on since there’s a lot of vitamins in it. Cut a thin 1/4 inch slice from the bottom of the potato to make it sit evenly. Using a sharp knife, make slices across the potato the short way about 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart, making sure to cut almost to the bottom of the potato but not all the way through. Put potatoes, cut side up, in baking dish. Drizzle olive oil and butter over each potato. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and black pepper. Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
SAUTEED BEET GREENS:
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes Serves: 4 for approx. 25 cents (or $1.99 if you buy the beets just for this)
Ingredients:
1 bunch of beet greens (the leaves at the end of fresh beets)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
Kosher salt & black pepper to taste
Directions:
Thoroughly wash beet greens. You might want to wash them several times or soak in a bowl of water to get all the dirt off. Pat dry. Chop up the greens. In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium-heat. Add greens, and cook a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook a couple more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.