“I made you your own block of omega-3 fatty acids which can reduce your young blood pressure and help prevent blood clots in your tiny veins. Underneath I’ve hidden a bundled gift full of vitamins A & C, beta-carotene, soluble fibers, magnesium and folic acid. You can thank me when you live to be 110.”
One of my best meals ever, was at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Filet of Sole en Papiotte with a Buerre Blanc Sauce (fish w/ butter sauce in parchment paper – to the rest of us). I urge all of you to buy yourself a roll of parchment paper, if you haven’t already. Bake cookies and rolls on parchment to prevent burning, but even better, bake fish or poultry in a parchment wrap to keep it sinfully moist and to avoid washing dirty pans!
I found fresh halibut on sale – when does that ever happen? – and knew Griffin, my protein-averse-in-a-veggie-rut son, would complain. This presentation did the trick – I told him it was Seafood Surprise. He ate red peppers and zucchini with the halibut and I only had to use one teaspoon of butter. And, he got a free facial steambath.

Halibut en Papiotte or SeafoodSurprise (recipe) read more

My theory is that the higher the nutritional value of the food, the more leeway I have in seasonings. For instance, don’t mind adding a tinge of sugar or agave syrup to salad dressing because I know it helps encourage salad eating. But, French Toast might only get cinnamon (except for when it gets maple syrup) – I can’t fight the French. The best thing about the go-to bowl is that it makes my meal prep fast and nimble. I don’t have to run out to the store for the missing ingredient and my food doesn’t have to taste the flavor-void cereal.

There is many a time after a long day when I get home to the “what’s for dinner” whine and would love to turn around and say make your own *@#* dinner. Instead we turn those nights into “Make your own fish/chicken/pork/beef/bean tacos night. This is the perfect meal for reinventing leftovers or just cooking up one quick protein. In grilling season we favor fish tacos using quickly marinaded strips of fish. Did you know that fancy expensive bottled marinades are just salad dressings in disguise??? Marinate fish in your favorite dressing for 30 minutes, sear on the grill and put out with warm tortillas and an assortment of veggies and you have dinner in a flash that your family assembles themselves.

“I don’t have time to make my own salad dressing!” you say. When you’re feeling brave and motivated by the alarming nutritional data on packaged dressings, try preparing your own. My teenage daughter likes Asian Chicken Salad which we all know is loaded with sugars and sodium, but at least she’s eating salad, I figure. But, I found a more acceptable dressing that takes me minutes to prepare and she loves: Miso Dressing (adapted from The Conscious Cook – the vegan cookbook from Tal Ronnen) I’ve added some suggestions in case you don’t want to purchase all of the ingredients.

Ahi tuna steaks were on sale, so we found ways to make them the basis for this week’s meals. I served the grilled tuna on the first night and then the other two meals became my “fast food” later in the week. If you want to go really fast, make the dressing for the salad in advance as well.

Shop: – tuna steaks (double what you need for one meal), versatile vegetable like broccolini (more than you need for one meal), green beans, rice noodles, eggs, tomatoes, cilantro, limes, shallots, green onion.

Stock: – soy sauce, orange juice, sesame seeds, sesame oil, agave or honey, lemon, lettuce. kalamata olives, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar.

Prep:

1. Marinade tuna steaks in citrus juice for 30 minutes,start with orange juice, add in some lemon and lime juice, and at least a teaspoon of olive oil.
2. Wash and clean vegetables and cilantro.
3. Steam beans (slightly under cooked)
4. Caramelize shallots – slice thinly, saute slowly with 1 t. butter until natural sugars emerge.
5. Make rice noodle sauce: 1/4 c. soy sauce, 1 T agave, juice from 1 lime, 1 t. sesame oil
6. Hard boil eggs

Grilled Tuna Steaks (three recipes) read more