Yesterday morning for Easter, my mom made delicious almond biscotti and apple crostada. I helped myself to five of the biscotti (100 cals/each) and one piece of the crostada (250 cals). That was a pretty big breakfast! For lunch, I had just a turkey burger (plain, no bun) and a cup of steamed green beans. That put me just about on track for dinner, with 400 calories to “spend.” Not wanting to buy any food, I decided to make do with what I had in the cupboard, and so I went with this recipe.
I had made this before with salmon, the way it’s supposed to be made. This time, I wanted just the lentils, and a grilled pork chop to go with it, so I used the spices from the original recipe on the pork chop.
Recipe notes: lentils
I remembered from the last time I made this that sauteing the veggies didn’t really do much, so to save a few calories, I skipped the oil and simply threw the veggies in with the lentils and brought it to a boil. This also made the recipe much faster and easier. So to make one serving, I put 1/4 cup dried green lentils in with 1.5 cups water, and started bringing it to a boil. I tossed the veggies into the pot as I chopped them, using 1 carrot, 4 stalks celery, 1/4 red onion, 3 cloves raw garlic, and 1/4 cup fresh parsley. I put in 1/2 tsp dried thyme, and 1/2 tsp Herb Ox Sodium Free Chicken Broth, both of which added a lot of flavor. Then, I just let it simmer for about 15 minutes. The lentils are great for protein, but a bit high in calories to eat a lot, so the veggies help the dish stretch to be filling without high in calories.
Recipe notes: pork chop
For the pork chop, I defrosted it and then sprinkled on garlic, paprika, oregano, thyme, onion powder, and black pepper (most of the components of Emeril’s Bayou Blast). I waited until the lentils were almost done, then put the pork chop on the George Foreman for a few minutes. Easy!
Nutrition facts:
219 calories for the lentils (recipe here)
160 calories for the pork chop (spice rub recipe at the same link)
Review: 4/5 stars
This is a great go-to dish when you have some random veggies to use up, and just want to make something using everything in your pantry. It’s not anything impressive for company, but the flavors are great together and it’s a great dish for a tasty night at home.