So, this last post is not exactly chronological, but I felt it should come last because these were just the most deliciously spectacular meals I’ve had, maybe ever, if not just since becoming pescatarian.

First up was actually Brad’s creation. I had nothing to do with the creation or implementation of this incredible dinner. But I was very involved in eating it.

Now, normally, Brad and I cook pretty much all of our meals together. It’s basically one of our favorite things to do together. And I never really knew how to cook until we started cooking together. I could follow a recipe just fine, but I was never someone that could throw things together to make something yummy. That was not the case here:

mahi mahi, polenta cakes and rosted fennel and tomato, all drizzled with a roasted tomato vinaigrette

So, let me tell you, this here? This is love. Brad’s not really a fan of fish, but he made this incredible dish for me [and he loved it as much as I did] This meal was totally out of his element, too. Although it’s a pretty fancy looking meal, it’s actually a very simple preparation.

mahi mahi

Just a little salt and pepper on each side, and he fried it up in a little bit of olive oil. This piece of fish is actually really funny to me. It was two frozen filets for like $7.99, so we weren’t really expecting too much. Boy, were we wrong. This fish doesn’t need a fancy preparation. We topped it with parmigiano reggiano shavings.

polenta cakes

Polenta is another food we don’t really eat a lot. So, out of experimentation, we just decided to fry them up. Not THE healthiest preparation, we learned, since polenta really soaks up the oil. But it was good either way. Crispy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside.

roasted vegetables

Now, we’ve NEVER even cooked with fennel before. So, come to think of it, I really have no idea where the inspiration for this meal came from. But Brad roasted the tomato an fennel bulb halves with thyme, rosemary and olive oil. Then he took one of the roasted tomatoes and blended it with some red wine vinegar, and s&p to make the vinaigrette.

the salad i had been thinking about for a week

I went to the store and bought a bunch of yummy ingredients for salads, but then I got home and realized I forgot one important thing: lettuce. So after daydreaming about my salad, I finally got to realize my dream:

spinach, avocado, goat cheese and sunflower seeds

no wait, the best part

Doniree was talking last week about how she makes her own salad dressings, and it made me all kinds of happy and I just HAD to tell you guys all about my current favorite kitchen toy:

the herb 'n serve!

I totally got this at our company Christmas party during the gift exchange and I luurve it. It’s just a tiny little battery-operated blender, for making dressings, marinades and sauces and it’s so much fun. It doesn’t really chop anything bigger than say, a small clove of garlic, but that’s enough for making delicious dressings. For this salad, used some store bought pesto sauce, red wine vinegar and a little bit of fat-free sour cream to make a deliciously tangy and creamy vinaigrette for my creative salad.

So, in conclusion? The herb ‘n serve: get it. Mahi Mahi: eat it.

One thing that has surprised me since I’ve cut meat out of my diet is how much I’m not eating eggs. I really like eggs, so I figured I’d be eating more of them now, since they’re sort of like a superfood. [actually, aren't they a superfood? No, they're just the "incredible, edible egg"]

One of my new favorite things is to make a bunch of extra rice whenever we cook rice. Then I can use the leftovers to make fried rice, which is super-delicious and a good use of eggs [oh THERE'S the connection!]. Plus, it’s another one of those things you can just throw in whatever is in the fridge [I'm beginning to notice a trend ...]

fried rice with leftover cooked broccoli, onion, yellow bell pepper, mushroom and peas

Plus, it’s SO easy. Just sweat your onions (green, red, yellow, white, whatever you have) in like 2 tsp of butter or vegetable oil (or sesame oil if you have it). Then gradually add your chopped vegetables in order of how long they need to cook. These went: onion, mushroom, pepper, peas, broccoli. Then add your rice and break up all the chunks. If you think ahead better than I do, it’s a good idea to take the leftover rice out of the fridge like an hour or so before so it’s not too cold. Then add one egg and keep cooking until the egg looks like it’s all scrambled. Lastly, flavor it up with soy sauce, garlic salt, s&p, onion powder, whatever you have around that sounds tasty.

Note: One thing I’ve learned with making this dish is to be careful not to use too much oil. It doesn’t need it, plus it messes up the texture of the egg/rice. You really only need it to cook up the veggies.

So, I am sure this happens at some point to anyone who decides to cut meat out of their diet. [although I have heard that there are people somewhere that might not like cheese, but I'm pretty sure this is a myth] I am of course referring to the realization that you can not simply replace meat in your diet with cheese. Unfortunately.

While it does have some redeeming nutritional qualities, I am aware it’s something that should be used sparingly, as a meal enhancer, rather than simply a meal. [grilled cheese? quesadilla anyone?]

That said, paninis are one of my favorite vehicles for bringing cheese to my mouth. Plus, it’s a super-delicious way to pack a BUNCH of veggies into a one-dish meal. And for others like me, who have very different food preferences than their significant other, it’s a great way for everyone to have what they want in a dinner.

It’s all the bites of cheese while the panini is grilling [which takes all of six minutes] that get me into some trouble. So, if you don’t have a panini press I highly suggest getting one. Ours came from Target [my fave] and was only $20. Or, if you have a big heavy cast iron skillet, you could put that on top of your sandwich in another nonstick pan. But personally, I enjoy the grill marks. You could also use a George Foreman grill, but be careful of ooey-gooey cheese dripping on the downward slope.

paninis! mine on the left, brad's on the right

Brad’s looks much prettier than mine because it’s not stuffed with veggies and his white bread makes for much nicer grill marks. But mine is nice and healthy with its tomato, bell pepper and avocado. Also included: a slice of havarti and one wedge of Laughing Cow Light spreadable cheese [I prefer to have two cheeses in my paninis so both slices of bread can stick. In past paninis, I’ve included mushrooms, caramelized or fresh onions, apple slices, peach slices, roasted peppers, spinach, arugula, etc. Get creative with the veggies in your fridge!

I’ve never done much cooking with quinoa, but I think it’s a fascinating food. If you haven’t tried it, I suggest you go pick some up and start experimenting. It’s sorta like rice and sorta like cous cous, but much more talented because it has protein. Which is really good for pesca- and vegetarians alike, because it’s tricky to get protein from places that aren’t super fatty [read: cheese].

So, the base for the following salad actually came from Brad’s mom. We were visiting for his birthday, and she made a really yummy side dish out of:

• cooked quinoa
• blanched green beans
• blanched broccoli
• raw red bell pepper
• raw green onion
• olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

There may have been more to it, but it’s one of those things you can put your own influence on. Don’t like green beans? Use something else, or leave them out altogether.

She had a massive pile leftover, so we got sent home with most of it, which I was thrilled about. I piled a bunch of it on top of some mixed greens the next day for lunch. It was good, but definitely left me feeling like something was missing. It just wasn’t filling enough as a main meal; I was still hungry.

So the following day, I added goat cheese and a smidge more oil/vinegar.

and, voila!

so, i learned after this photo to take the pretty picture before mixing up salads

It’s not the prettiest salad, but it was definitely tasty. And filling. I will be experimenting with quinoa more in the future, particularly as a salad ingredient.

other ways i’ve had quinoa so far:

You can use quinoa anywhere you would normally use rice. I’ve used it in a teriyaki chicken bowl [before I gave up meat, obv.] and just on the side of a main dish, or mixed with cooked veggies. It has a unique nuttiness that plain white rice doesn’t have, similar to whole wheat pasta. And I prefer it to brown rice, because brown rice is so damn hard to cook properly.

so, what quinoa recipes do you have? share plz!

note: this is a vegan dish if you leave the cheese off, or substitute with your own soy cheese variety.

Because really? What’s better than making a whole week about food? [nothing is]

So, I’ve been trying to photograph my meals ever since I decided to go pescatarian. Well, the creative and delicious meals, that is. And be warned, when I say “photograph” I’m referring to the camera in my iPhone. I’m absolutely no photographer. ANYWAY. I’ve decided to present this series to you in chronological order to show my progress, as well as the creativity [I feel] I’ve developed over the last few weeks. And because this is my blog and I’ll do what I want.

my boyfriend is a carnivore

He just … has to have beef in his diet. Which is what has made this diet choice difficult in the past for me. But having a start and end point to my commitment has made it much easier. That way, if 40 days rolls around and I’m tired of not eating meat, I won’t feel bad about adding it back into my diet.

So, at the start of Lent, we went to Costco [which means my bank account totally and completely hated me that day because really? Who can go to Costco and leave without spending less than $150? Not me, that's who] and bought a big four-pack of rib eyes [for Brad] and a big four-pack of stuffed salmon [for me]. Brad hates salmon, so I figured I would be super glad to get to eat it more often. We froze everything into separate baggies for go-to meals. It was good, but there have been two problems so far.

it’s a big ass piece of fish

That, coupled with the fattening stuffing, didn’t really jive with my whole mission to eat healthier. I found myself wasting the leftovers [because lets face it, reheated salmon? blech]. But the bigger problem?

i got tired of salmon. real. quick.

And I’m pretty sure there’s still one more in my freezer. One of the things I’ve learned in my many years of trying to eat healthy is that I need variety. I’ll get bored too quickly and look for something less healthy. Plus, the salmon I bought was already “decorated” in a way, so it’s not like I had many options on how to dress it up. So, mental note: don’t buy specialty main dishes in bulk.

here are the ways i “dressed it up,” while brad ate steak:

stuffed salmon with bell pepper/tomato whole wheat pasta (and wine)

stuffed salmon with mixed grilled veggies (i luurve grilled veggies, and you can use whatever is in the fridge. featured here: bell pepper, onion, asparagus)

stuffed salmon with grilled asparagus (we had gotten asparagus at costco, too ...)

It’s thrilling, I know. But in all reality, something like this stuffed salmon is a nice standby to have for those evenings that I just don’t care, or have the time/energy to put into a nice and interesting dinner. Next time, I do this, I’ll probably opt to have a package of plain, undecorated fish that I can get creative with.

So, lent is upon us. For those who don’t know, I’m a non-practicing agnostic Jew who dislikes everything about religion. For the most part. While I do have a deep appreciation for people who do find faith and solace in practicing religion, and I see how it brings people together in a community (and I can’t knock that). But in my experience and what I know to be true, it brings added separation to our world. Keeps individuals from connecting with other individuals and communities from connecting with other communities. And to me, that is bad.

That said, I think the practice of giving up a vice for lent is valuable, no matter your beliefs. But I was curious about the history and the WHY. Good old Wikipedia says:

Lent, in Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.

So, while I’m obviously not preparing myself, the [?]believer, I think the practice giving something up to increase your focus [be that on God, charity or relationships], is valuable. Or at least worth a shot.

so, if you haven’t guessed already, i’ve given up red meat, chicken and pork

Inspired by my friends Liz and Doniree, I tried to be a for-real pescatarian last summer, but it didn’t last. I decided on Ash Wednesday to participate in lent because it was lunch time and I hadn’t eaten any meat yet. So, I wanted to see if I can really do this thing.

My boyfriend is definitely a steak person, so it’ll be interesting figuring out dinners that work for both of us … recipes forthcoming!