Dinner Made Easy

I have decided that I am going to concentrate on easy, well-rounded dinners made in under an hour ~ start to finish ~ during the week. I am finding that working long hours and getting caught up in all these elaborate but delicious

sounding (and looking when there are pictures) meal ideas is completely wearing me out and all the time I have left is to put the leftovers in the frig., cleaning my mess and going to bed. No final enjoyment, just exhaustion. From now on, there will be weekend dinners and weeknight dinners, such as those printed in cooking magazines for our inspiration! This will not mean boring week night dinners though. I need the challenge of fun flavors to go with finding the desire to go home and make dinner. If dinner ideas become mundane, I will find 5 different excuses as to why buying a ready-to-bake pizza is the right choice for dinner and I simply refuse. Besides, I love my homemade pizza =).

Dinner for the Evening: (drum roll. . .) Serves 4

Glazed Pork Chops

Smashed Potatoes

Stewed Green Beans

Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients~

4 bone-in pork chops (about 9 ounces each)

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

Directions~

Heat broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a small bowl, combine sugar and Dijon. Place pork on sheet; season with salt and pepper. Broil until pork begins to brown, 6 to 8 minutes; spread sugar mixture over top. Broil until glaze is browned and pork is opaque through out, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve pork with potatoes and green beans.

Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients~

1 1/2 pounds red new potatoes, scrubbed well and quartered

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup whole milk

2 Tablespoons butter

Directions~

Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below the basket; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a bowl; set aside.

Remove steamer basket; discard water from pot. In same pot, melt 1 Tablespoon butter over medium heat. Add garlic; cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add potatoes; mash coarsely. Cook, stirring, 1 minute (a film of starch will form on bottom of pot). Stir in milk and remaining tablespoon of butter; heat until warmed through, about 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover. Set aside while getting started on the pork chops.

Stewed Green Beans

Ingredients~

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 medium red onion, diced

2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

coarse salt and ground pepper

3/4 to 1 pound fresh green beans or 1 package (10 ounces) frozen green beans

1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice

Directions~

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 Tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add green beans and tomatoes (with their juice); cook, stirring occasionally until beans are tender, about 15 minutes.

Tender, yet still slightly crisp.