Crispy Pork Cutlets. Fried Pork Chops. Sound tempting enough already. But so much deep fried food just doesn’t do justice to our waistlines. To create a healthier alternative which can also satisfy that craving of a good crunch at the same time is to make use of Japanese breadcrumbs, panko. It’s lighter, extremely crunchy and doesn’t absorb as much grease as regular breadcrumbs. It’s also relatively cheap so I always have one bag in my pantry that I can make use of anytime as a topping for various dishes like baked pasta, baked eggplants and more.

For an indulging treat, check out my following recipes:

• Fried Pork Chops with Crispy Onion Rings
• Tonkatsu (Japanese Pork Cutlet)

Panko Crusted Pork Chop with Spinach Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 pork chops (approx. 500g)
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs, tossed with 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt & pepper
250g baby spinach leaves
250g cherry tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (400g)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & freshly cracked black pepper
olive oil

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C at Grill with fan. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and lightly grease with cooking spray.
2. Season the pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Heat a skillet with a little oil and brown the pork chops on both sides.
3. Transfer the pork chops onto the baking tray. Top each pork chop with the panko. Add the cherry tomatoes alongside the chops and roast in oven for approx. 10 minutes till meat is cooked through, panko is golden brown and tomatoes have wrinkled slightly.
4. Toss the tomatoes with cannellini beans, baby spinach leaves and balsamic vinegar.
5. Serve each pork chop on top of the salad.

Crunchy topping. Succulent meat. Juicy tomatoes. With only half the guilt 🙂 Bon appetit!

Tags: baby spinach salad recipebaked pork chopbaking recipesbean salad recipecookingdinnereasy recipesfoodhomemadepork recipepork recipesreciperecipes