Healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipes

Greek Seasoned Grilled Pork Chops with Lemon and Oregano, served with Spicy Mexican Slaw!

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites, and I first made these Greek-Seasoned Grilled Pork Chops in 2009, when my old house was in the middle of house renovations, the grill was in the neighbor's garage, and I was anxious to grill.  Fast forward nearly four years and I'm living in a new house with a natural gas grill on the deck, and I still love this recipe!  When my grill was packed away I cooked these on a stove-top grill pan, which is a great option if you don't have an outside grill.)

All year I wait for grilling season, so I'm trying to be patient about the fact that it's June and my grill is still packed away in the neighbor's garage, where it's been for quite a while! I guess not having a grill is making me think about things I'd like to be grilling, and the thought of grilled pork chops with a marinade similar to Souvlaki popped into my head last week. Luckily I have a stove-top grill pan, as well as a George Foreman grill, and I've now tried this recipe using both of those. If you like Souvlaki but want an easier version, you'll love these pork chops.

(Today I got the hard cast on my broken arm, and it's going to be very slow typing for a while.  Luckily I have good things from the past that I can feature for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, like these "breaded" pork chops that are really delicious!)

This version of pork chops that are "breaded" with almond meal is a recipe I first posted back in 2005, and it's a favorite of my niece Kara, her husband Tim, and their adorable kids Cooper, Sophie, and Quinn.  (Hi guys!)  When Kara told me a while ago how much her family liked these pork chops, I realized that the photo I'd taken with my very first point-and-shoot digital camera really did need to be updated, and when I made these again recently with Jake, I remembered how good they are!  The almond meal used for the breading here adds a delicious layer of flavor, and also makes this recipe gluten-free as well as very low on the glycemic index.  I'd say this recipe is a winner in lots of ways!

(Updated with better photos and step-by-step instructions, July 2013.)  Summer grilling is in full swing at my new house, and I recently made these Grilled Lime and Chipotle Pork Chops for a delicious dinner, and also so I could re-do the photos.  (One of the best things about food blogging is the way you get to eat your work!)  The marinade used here was adapted from a recipe I found years ago on the Best Foods site, and since the recipe Idea came from Best Foods, this marinade does contain mayo.  If the idea of marinating meat in mayo seems odd, keep in mind you're actually eating very little of the marinade and it really keeps the pork chops juicy when they're grilled.  A recipe like this is one of the few places I'd use dried cilantro, but if you need to substitute fresh cilantro, be sure it's very finely chopped.  I decreased the amount of mayo and increased the lime juice and added cumin, which I think really works well with the combination of cilantro, lime, and Chipotle.  Hope you enjoy!