Reubenesque Pork: South Beach Style

We all know what a Reuben sandwich is, now don't we?  It's a delightful number - corned beef, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and swiss cheese all stuffed with love between two slices of rye bread.  It's magic in sandwich form, I'd say.  It's also a great big giant fattening mess! 

I have been toying with some new recipe ideas - shocking, I know - and I wanted to incorporate the flavors of a Reuben, but sans the bread and a lot of the fat.  Hence - REUBENESQUE PORK  (yes, yes...I know it's supposed to be rUbenesque, but bear with me here).  Please note that I'm purposely not using corned beef to reduce the fat and sodium content. 

Here's what you need:

Boneless pork chops
Sauerkraut
Lite thousand island dressing (according to Wikipedia, it's a "variant of Russian dressing")
2% swiss cheese

Here's what you do:

Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with Pam or something like it.  Trim the fat off of your pork chops - I find those kitchen shears to work wonders.  Lay them down in the dish.  I actually did use put a wee bit of the dressing in the bottom of the dish, before laying down my pork chops, and used a spatula to spread it out.

 

Season them if you like, but since sauerkraut is so flavorful, I didn't find it necessary.  Layer a bit of the sauerkraut upon the chops.  How much?  Well that's up to you.  How much do you like the kraut?  I'm a big fan, so I used a lot (just shy of 2 cans for my 8 pork chops). 

Next, liberally drizzle your dressing over the sauerkrauted chops. 

Finally, top them all off with a slice of swiss.  I used the slices instead of shredded because I have yet to find 2% shredded SWISS cheese.  I think it's also a good way to make sure you are really only having THAT serving size.  There were 9 slices to the pack and 8 pieces of pork, so ... hmmm...wonder what happened to that 9th slice...  I also sprinkled some parsley flakes and I grinded a bit of rock salt and garlic over the top for good measure.

Bake it in the oven - 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.  I think it's best to let it sit for a few minutes so the sauce has a bit of time to thicken.  Serve with a side of veggies if you are like me and nixing those bread carbs for the time being. 

I have thought about how I would make this again when I am not nixing the bread carbs and I think I would incorporate rye bread into the mix.  I once made this Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower dish from Carrots 'n' Cake.  In the recipe, you make a bread crumb mixture using multi grain bread, olive oil, salt, and parsley.  I was thinking I could use the same concept, but with rye bread and add this in as a layer before the dressing.  South Beachers are allowed rye bread, don't ya know!

So there you have it...yet another Kim creation - Reubenesque Pork.  It's a yummy dish and I hope you give it a whirl.  Oh, by the way...since I'm not a "food blogger", my pictures are sub-par.  I apologize for that!

Peace out!