4 six ounce pork chops
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat grill.
2. Brush pork chops with vegetable oil and press fennel seeds into the flesh. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Grill pork chops on both sides, about 8 minutes per side, until juices run clear and the outside is well seared.

Makes 4 servings

24 large button mushrooms, stems removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 ounces spinach
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauce pan and add the spinach, stirring until completely wilted.
3. Remove the spinach from the heat and stir in feta, scallions, parsley and a pinch of salt to taste.
4. Stuff mushroom caps with the spinach mixture and arrange on a baking sheet.
5. Brush tops of mushroom caps with remaining olive oil and bake until mushrooms are tender and feta has started to brown, about 15 minutes.

Makes 6 servings

I think I've got the Greek thing out of my system now. I've still got some Tzatziki in the fridge (like Hummus, it's always nice to have around as a dip or condiment) and I've used up all of the fresh herbs I purchased. My personal herb garden was infested with white flies and I was a bit tardy dealing with the problem. Now that they're all dead, the leaves of the herbs (especially the basil) are caked with the brown corpses of parasites, which is a real pain to wash off.

I mentioned my fondness for the Jamie's Italy mini series a couple of days ago. In the last episode I saw he cooked up a side of pork rubbed with fennel seeds over an open fire. Now, I'm not a big fan of fennel, but I've never heard of pork being paired with it before and the Italians seemed very pleased at the idea, so I decided to give it a try. I made Fennel Pork Chops and they were delicious! My love for pork chops aside, the fennel was even tasty! I remember writing about how I have to remember rosemary's true calling the other day (and I've already forgotten…) but I have to remember that fennel seed is actually good with pork. I have to try this with pork loin next time. The licoricy flavor seems to dissipate and the smoky flavor with the cooked seeds is actually very pleasant.

I still had a lot of spinach leftover from the Spanakopita, so I made Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms. With still more spinach remaining after the mushrooms were filled, I just plated the pork chops overtop of the leftover filling. There's something very satisfying, in an "I'm doing something healthy!" sort of way, about cooking up a large pot of green matter. The spinach taste was a tad overpowering, but perhaps that's my fault for under salting the filling and not bringing out the taste of the onion and feta. I think this would've been a lot better with a more powerful herb than parsley (say, sage or basil) but it was a nice, light accompaniment. To round off the plate, I warmed up the leftover green beans that I had with the Skordalia, though they were pretty sad after sitting in the fridge.