For this week's Chopped Dinner Challenge, the chefs of Food Network Kitchen chose to feature the basket ingredient banana chips. While panko breadcrumbs serve as a great coating for almost all meats, the chefs wanted to prove that changing it up by mixing the breadcrumbs with a sweeter ingredient would result in a unique sweet-and-savory take on a classic jerk pork chop. In this Banana Chip Crusted Jerk Pork Chops recipe, the banana chips are ground in a blender to make them fine enough for the seasoning. Served with rice and beans, this is a quick, delicious dinner for those warm summer nights.

First, begin by chopping the scallions, leaving the whites and greens separate.

Next, heat some oil in a medium saucepan and stir in the scallion whites with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper, until they are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Next, stir in the beans along with any liquid and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat.

Pulse the banana chips in a blender until they are finely ground, and mix them in with the panko breadcrumbs and jerk seasoning. Sprinkle the pork with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Then coat them with the mixture, making sure that the crumbs stick to the meat.

Heat oil in a large skillet, adding the pork chops in small batches, turning them once so that they are golden brown at the edges and pink in the center, about 8 minutes total. Let the pork stand 5 minutes after cooking. Serve with rice and beans, and garnish with the remaining scallion greens.

Get the recipe:  Banana Chip Crusted Jerk Pork Chops

The Chopped Dinner Challenge is a series of recipes showing you how easy it is to cook like a winning Chopped competitor. Every week, FN Dish will showcase a recipe created by Food Network Kitchen that uses at least one of the Chopped basket ingredients from an episode, plus basic grocery goods and simple staples. Consider it your very own Chopped challenge. Just take this frequent tip from the judges: Don’t forget to season!