Pork Medallions with Red Peppers and Artichokes

It was time to try something new for dinner and to my amazement I flipped shortly through my Cooking Light Recipe 2004 Book and found something that sounded tasty and was under the super fast meals - not a bad combination when you are hoping to get dinner on the table quickly.

2 teaspoons olive oil
Cooking spray
8 (2-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 cups red bell pepper strips
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add pork, and cook 1 minute on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from pan. Add bell pepper to pan; sauté 2 minutes.
Combine the broth, tomato paste, thyme, and sage, stirring with a whisk.

Return pork to pan, and add broth mixture and artichoke hearts. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove pork from pan, and keep warm. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Spoon the artichoke mixture over the pork.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 pork chops and 1 cup artichoke mixture)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 245(22% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 1.7g,mono 3.4g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 29.8g; CHOLESTEROL 74mg; CALCIUM 22mg; SODIUM 782mg; FIBER 5.7g; IRON 2.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.4g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2003

Notes: Unfortunately the red pepper purchased for this recipe was used for something else earlier in the week. Despite missing a key ingredient, I really liked this meal and it will be part of the Favorites Cookbook.

Yummy!