Lemon Basil Porkchops with Parmesan Zucchini Chips

The end of summer is sad in some ways. It's obviously the end of warm nights and burning hot days; it's the end of lazy afternoons by a pool; and it's the end of grilling out for dinner! September and fall brings benefits of it's own-- fresh picked apples, warm comfort foods, and football, to name just a few. But before the cool days get here, I wanted to make some summery tasting foods. This is when I came up with lemon basil pork chops. The tart lemon mixes so wonderfully with fresh basil to give the other white meat a crisp and light taste. I paired it with baked parmesan zucchini chips for some crunch, but you could easily serve a fresh salad with a balsamic vinaigrette if you don't want to turn on the oven. The recipe is simple, and quick to make... perfect for summer evenings when you'd rather sit outside on the patio with a glass of wine than slave in a kitchen!

Lemon Basil Porkchops

• 2 boneless, butterflied, lean pork chops
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• a handfull of fresh basil leaves julienned
• kosher salt and pepper
• cooking spray

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil and basil. whisk until juice and oil are well blended.
2. Sprinkle pork chops with a little salt and pepper. Place pork chops into lemon & oil mixture. Turn to coat.
3. Allow to marinate about 15 minutes. (good time to work on the parmesan zucchini chips!)
4. Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat (about a 6 out of 10). Spray with cooking spray.
5. Grill chops until done, about 5-6 minutes on each side, depending on thickness.

Parmesan Zucchini chips

• 1 small zucchini, sliced into thin 'chips' horizontally. I used my vegetable peeler to get them really thin
• about 2 Tbsp olive oil in a shallow dish
• about 1/2 cup of very finely grated Parmesan cheese in a shallow dish
  
• pepper (do not use extra salt! The Parmesan is salty enough!)

1. preheat oven to 475°. Spray a light layer of cooking spray on a baking sheet.
2. Create an assembly line of zucchini, then olive oil, and finally the Parmesan with some pepper sprinkled in.
3. Lightly coat each zucchini chip with olive oil and then Parmesan. You don't need a thick coating, just a light dusting.
4. Place onto the sprayed cooking sheet.
5. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and flip chips if they look as though they're getting too brown. This might not be necessary, use your judgment so they don't burn!
6. Bake another 5 minutes, until chips are golden brown.

Carb options
This would be delicious with some sort of grilled/warmed pita bread! Also, you could add some panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) to the Parmesan and pepper mixture on the zucchini chips.