Not new, but oh so yummy!

Last night I pulled out some pork chops from the freezer to have tonight. I had no idea what I was going to do with them at the time. So tonight I opened the pantry and searched for inspiration.

I found it in the form of two cans: one of green beans and another of diced tomatoes. They whispered to me, reminding me that there were slivered almonds in the cabinet and feta cheese in the fridge ...

You see, back in the day when Dorothy and I were doing Middle Eastern music and dancing, we formed a group with several of our friends. We named ourselves the Aladeen family, and performed as Raqsat Aladeen. During this time, I learned about Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking, particularly Lebanese and Greek styles. Green bean dishes are common, mixed with various other ingredients. I experimented, got my family's feedback, and eventually settled on my own dish which we dubbed Green Beans Aladeen.

Having decided that the pork needed to be accompanied by Green Beans Aladeen, I pondered how to cook the meat. Consulting my old mentor(1) Jeff Smith (the Frugal Gourmet), I discovered a simple Greek recipe that looked like it would serve nicely.

Finally, I thought some rice would be a nice finish. I happened to have a lot of rice cooked up from the last batch of spinach wraps, but it's been in the refrigerator long enough to get a bit dry. I plan to use it for fried rice soon, but figured I might be able to revive a bit to go with dinner.

So here's what I ended up with:

Greek Style Pork Chops

3 medium cut pork loin chops

1/2 medium onion, diced

3 stalks celery, chopped, with leaves

2 cloves garlic, diced

1-2 tsp whole cloves

2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Preheat a large pan with a lid on high heat. Put a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan and brown both sides of the meat. Carefully pour in the stock (the pan is hot enough to start the liquid boiling immediately, so watch for steam and splatters!) so that it comes up the sides of the meat without completely submerging it. Reduce the heat to low and cover with the chopped vegetables and cloves. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Green Beens Aladeen

1 15oz can green beans

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

2-3 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1/3 cup slivered almonds

Drain the cans of beans and tomatoes(2) and combine in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, stir in the feta and almonds.

Reinvigorated Rice

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups cold cooked rice

Bring the stock to a simmer in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and stir the rice into the stock. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes or until the rice is heated through and rehydrated.

There you go. 1 hour from start to finish, one awesome meal. I even remembered to take a picture!

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(1) Not that I've actually met the man, of course, but I credit "the Fruge" as my first cooking teacher. For about six months when I was working part time, I watched his show on PBS over lunch and learned quite a bit.
(2) I'm serious here. Drain them well. When the tomatoes heat up they are going to release more liquid, and if you leave too much of the canning liquid, you're going to have soup once you add the cheese. It'll still taste fine, but you'll need to use a slotted spoon to serve it, and you'll lose some cheese to the soup.