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New Column on Pay No Attention: Quick, Easy Dinners for 1 (or 2 or 10 . . .)--Pork chops with garlic and thyme, sweet potatoes and swiss chard

In my ongoing attempt to be all things to all people, I'm going to post recipes here on Pay No Attention whenever I successfully make a full dinner in under half an hour.  Feel free to submit recipes to paynoattention.net!  I'll give you credit if I post them (or keep you anonymous, if you prefer).  Email Me  Because I'm single, all of my recipes are workable when cooking for only one or two, although you can multiply them for larger groups.

Pork chops, sweet potatoes, and swiss chard

What you need:

thin boneless pork chops (1/4 - 1/3 lb per person, depending on how much you eat), olive oil, thyme (fresh is better, use dried in a pinch), garlic cloves (1 or more, depending on how many chops), salt, pepper, sweet potatoes (1 per person), fresh swiss chard (it cooks down a lot -- you need a great big bunch even if you're only serving one or two people).

What to do:

*  Chop garlic.  Salt and pepper both sides of pork chops and press garlic and thyme into each side (I use the whole stalk of fresh thyme -- I don't take it off the stem). Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a saute pan large enough to hold all the pork chops and have it ready to go.  *  Scrub sweet potato(es) and prick in several places with fork, and put on microwaveable dish.  *   Wash swiss chard, remove white or red stems, tear it in smaller pieces, and put in a steamer (sure, you could boil it, but you'll lose nutrients.  I put it in metal steamer in a big saucepan with an inch of water underneath and then cover it -- you do what you want).   *   Each of these things is going to take about the same amount of time to cook (6-10 minutes) once you get it going, so have it all ready to roll before you start cooking.

* Put sweet potatoes in microwave for 6 minutes on high (depending on size of potatoes, could take up to 10 minutes, and they'll keep in the microwave, so turn them on first).  *  Start steaming swiss chard (should only take 3-5 minutes once pot gets hot).  *  Turn on medium heat under saute pan, and when it is heated, put in chops, garlic thyme and all, and cook until browned on each side and cooked through.  You'll only need 3 or at most 4 minutes per side if you got thin ones.  *  Check on the swiss chard after it's been steaming for 3 minutes -- you don't want to overcook it.  When chard is done, drain any water and toss it with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and salt and pepper, and it's ready.  *  Serve sweet potato(es) with salt, pepper and butter or sour cream, or whatever.

Quick, Easy Dinners for 1 (or 2 or 10...): Quesadillas with chopped avocado salad

I'm calling one quesadilla a serving for the sake of convenience.  However, while one quesadilla might be enough if you're a really light eater, if you're hungry you'll probably want two.  Since they only take a couple of minutes to assemble, you can make them one at a time, which makes them ideal if you're only feeding one person, or a couple of people eating at different times

What you need: 

small (6 inch) corn tortillas (2 tortillas per quesadilla)  *  1 can of refried beans (you'll need around 2 tablespoons per quesadilla) *  grated cheddar or monterey jack cheese (a couple of tablespoons per quesadilla)  *  avocado, chopped (1 for every 2 servings)  *  chopped fresh tomato (1 for every 2 servings)  *  chopped green onion (1 for every 2 servings -- can substitute 1 tablespoon chopped regular onion if you want)  *  fresh lime juice (about 1 tablespoon per avocado; you can substitute lemon juice or even red wine vinegar)  *  chopped FRESH cilantro (1 tablespoon or more per avocado -- I like a lot.  Don't even think about using dried cilantro, and if you do, don't tell me about it)  *  Chopped chili pepper (to taste.  I'd use about a generous teaspoon per avocado, but I'm crazy.   You can substitute a dash or two of hot sauce in a pinch)   * salt.     TOTALLY OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:  cooked chicken or steak, cut in small pieces, sour cream, salsa.  If you use the chicken or steak, have it warm when you start the preparation of the quesadillas -- they don't cook long enough to heat the meat all the way through otherwise.

What to do:

Have all of the ingredients chopped and ready at the start -- the quesadillas only take a few minutes to assemble and cook.  *  Mix the avocado, tomato, onion, lime juice, cilantro, chili pepper and salt.  I leave it chunky (if you mash it, you'll have very tomato-y guacamole).   *  For each quesadilla, take one tortilla, spread on refried beans, leaving a 1/2 an inch or so of tortilla around the edges (to prevent cheese and beans from oozing out all over your pan).   Warning:  if you layer it on too thickly, it will ooze everywhere.  Don't say I didn't warn you. [If you are using chicken or meat, have it warm already and lay it on top of the beans.  I'd only use a couple of strips of meat per quesadilla, but that's me.]  Sprinkle cheese on the refried beans, respecting the margin of tortilla.  (Again, too much cheese will cause the ooze factor.)  Slap another tortilla on top.  *  Heat a large, flat skillet on medium high.  I put a little bit of oil in and spread it around, although if you use a non-stick pan, you don't really need it.  *   Grill each tortilla in the skillet for a few minutes on each side, until lightly golden and the cheese is melted.  I find that it helps to lightly press a spatula on top to prevent edges from curling up, but don't do it too hard or you'll have the ooze problem.  *  Serve with the avocado chopped salad, and if desired, with salsa and/or sour cream.

Variations: 

Add a small amount of warm cooked, drained spinach (or some other vegetable you like)  on top of the beans, and before the cheese.  *  Substitute 1 large flour tortilla for the 2 small corn ones; spread beans and cheese in the middle, leaving room around the edges of tortilla; fold the tortilla in half around ingredients instead of putting another tortilla on top, then heat on both sides.  Actually, most quesadilla recipes I've seen call for this approach -- I just happen to prefer the taste of the corn ones.  *  Leave out the beans.  Or leave out the cheese.  You can really put just about anything inside the tortilla.