Sweet Love and Ginger

Jessica

Summery Citrus Tilapia

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Summery Citrus Tilapia
The thing about the summer is that it’s hot. Sometimes it’s so hot that the idea of eating food actually makes my stomach flip. How could I possibly be hungry when the rest of my body feels all floppy and in coherent?
But then hungry and floppy almost instantly becomes hangry, like seriously hangry. When you are already uncomfortable little things seem 10 times worse than they actually are.
This was one of those days.
Luckily for me we can’t open our freezer without a landslide of food falling on us. I like to keep stocked up on good sales, and quickly defrosting stuff to help curb out Chinese takeout addiction. Tilapia is one of those things that defrosts pretty quickly, and cooks just as fast, saving time away from the super hot oven.
I basically tossed the fillets into parchment with some herbs, and citrus zest from whatever we happened to have on hand. Did I mention it was hot? I wanted fresh and bright flavor, and very little work. My plan  worked because the tilapia came out moist and bright, and in only 20 minutes. I paired it with some leftover wild rice pilaf, and raw broccoli. Our veggies tend to be raw when I am feeling lazy. I’m told they are better for us that way, which is just an added bonus to the energy I’m saving, and dishes we don’t have to wash.
At least this is what I tell people instead of just “yeah I was lazy”. I’m sure they totally buy it. At least Chuck likes most vegetables raw anyway, sans dip.
He is weird I know.
Summery Citrus Tilapia
This recipe is super easy and perfect for summer, or in winter when you are dreaming of summery beach days.
Summery Citrus Tilapia
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 tilapia fillets (about 1 lb)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • Zest from one orange
  • Zest from one lemon
  • Zest from one lime
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley coarsely chopped
  • Slat & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Place 1 tilapia fillet on a large piece of parchment paper and top with 1/3 of the garlic, zests, parsley, salt & Pepper. Repeat with the remaining fillets. Fold up the sides of the parchment to create a pouch and seal in the fish.
  3. Place in the oven on a baking sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
  4. Carefully remove from the oven and open the packets slightly. Let cool for 3-5 minutes and serve.

My Yellow Table Gathering

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First off I want to start this by saying CONGRATULATIONS! to Anna of The Yellow Table. Before she had accomplished the monumental goal of raising
over $50,000 to publish her first book she asked her followers to help her
out by throwing dinner parties using her recipes to generate conversation.

I have been following Anna’s entire journey from day 1 and I
now feel like one of those creepy stalker people, because I am so completely
invested in this thing. From writing the book in about 100 days to completing
a cross country road trip, and preparing several dinner parties along the way
she has done so much, so very much that I cannot comprehend how one person
could possibly do it all and remain so humble and thankful.

She’s already reached her goal (and surpassed it by over $10,000), but that wasn’t going to stop me
from throwing my dinner party, besides Chuck might murder me if I didn’t make
those dates I told him about.

I decided to go with the easy dinner party menu that she had
listed, as we had planned to go group ziplining earlier in the day, and I
wasn’t sure how ambitious we all would be. I of course had made a few
alterations, because that’s just how things are done around here and added a
recipe or two.

The Menu
Bacon Wrapped Dates with Cider Mustard Glaze (Recipe Below)
Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to add the cider mustard glaze to the dates, because one
of our favorite restaurants has a similar appetizer with this kind of glaze,
and I’ve have been dying to figure it out. I also swapped the Roasted Carrots for the tomato tart because tomatoes are beginning to come in season here, and I
can’t resist them. Finally after all that, an adventurous day and the fact that
I don’t actually have any ramekins I decided to simply bake up some cast iron
cookies and serve them with vanilla ice cream instead of the Bittersweet Pudding Cakes, though some day I would really love to try out this recipe.
The night was I hope just what Anna had intended, light and fun
and full of casual chatter. 

I know our home isn’t ideal for dinner parties (I mean check our awesome table) but I
really want to make more of an effort to invite people over and share food and
conversation. It’s so necessary in today’s day and age.

Bacon Wrapped Dates with Cider Mustard Glaze
1/2 lb bacon, cut into thirds
30 dates

30 almonds

½ cup apple cider vinegar (plus a splash)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut a slit into the side of
the date and slip an almond into the center. Wrap each date in 1/3 a slice of
bacon, and arrange with the open side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for
15-20 minutes until the bacon is crisp. Once cooked remove from the oven and
place on a paper towel to drain. Meanwhile combine the vinegar, both sugars and mustard in a
small sauce pan, and bring it to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and
cook for 10 – 12 minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat and finish it with
a splash more of cider to keep the flavor bright. Move the cooked dates to a
serving tray and drizzle with the glaze. 
There is only one day left to pre-order The Yellow Table Cook Book. So if you are interested at all get to it!

Recouping with an Early Summer Abundance Bowl

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Despite the craziness of our July Fourth holiday we still manage to indulge.
Some of us really enjoyed the John Daily’s, maybe even a little too much; we
won’t talk about that though, I was having a good time. There was also lots of
food, as there always is at these kinds of things. Hamburgers, hotdogs,
sausages, bowls and bowls of creamy macaroni and potato salads, brownies, baked
beans, a friends signature cocktail meatballs, chips upon chips and dips are
just a few of the things on the list of indulgences.

After all of the cocktails and heavy food both Chuck and I were in
need of something with a little more freshness to it; you know something with
some green.
Luckily when we got home our gardens were over flowing. There was broccoli
that desperately needed to be cut, radishes that needed pulling, more lettuce
than we could ever hope to eat, and peas galore. There were even a few tomatoes
ready to be eaten, but they didn’t make it out of the garden, my tummy couldn’t
wait.
With all this fresh bounty I decided to make a very simple meal,
with mostly raw ingredients. I really love the concept of these wonderbowls
that Sarah from My New Roots has been posting; just using whatever you have on
hand, that is in season, and fresh and tossing it together into a big bowl for
the taking.

I made some wild rice with half water and half vegetable broth to
add some heft, and a bit of saltiness to the bowl; we wanted this thing to be
filling after all. I also added an apricot that I picked up from an organic
farm stand at a rest stop on the highway. There are some benefits to having to
take a day trip here and there for work. I also got some dried corn and kale chips
and dilly beans (so good!).
Chuck claims that it doesn’t need dressing but I’m sure there is a
few who would disagree. So I’m adding the recipe for the simple dressing that I
made, despite us not using it. The cool thing about this dressing is that it
can very easily be used as a marinade on chicken or seafood as well.
Simple Garlic and Ginger Dressing
½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey (or agave syrup)

Whisk all ingredients together and serve. Will
keep in the fridge for about a week.

Why I Became a Part Time Vegetarian

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Reasons and defenses for a reduced meat diet in the form of a Part Time Vegetarian or vegan diet.

Something I realized recently is while I told you all I was doing this experiment, how I’m going about it, and how I’m feeling with it I never really delved into the whole why aspect. Since that’s kind of important I thought I would share with you guys a few of my thoughts on the matter.

In my original post a couple weeks ago I talked a lot about how I wanted to live healthier.  First off I want to say that I don’t think you need to give up meat to be healthy, I do however think eating whole foods is the way to go. I love this post on the Paleo vs Vegetarian debate, I totally agree with the author when he says that whole
foods are the most important part of this puzzle.
Let me outline for you the basic path that lead me to try this whole thing out.

I have been on a bodybuilder type diet before, one consisting of lots of lean meat, and whole foods, however I did not particularly enjoy this type of diet. While I was able to slim down and gain considerable muscle, I still felt sluggish after eating, and my stomach became
extremely fussy, something I hope no one has to deal with, ever. I’m not saying this will happen to you, I’m just saying this is what happened to me. We all know veggies are good for us. Why not make them the focus of our diets? This kind of seems like a duh thing but it’s part of the thought process so I felt the need to mention it.

A friend of mine had huge success altering his diet based on his blood type, loosing considerable weight and gaining energy. When I looked
into this idea I found that my blood type according to this diet should be meat free, based on fruits, veggies, beans, legumes, and whole grains.

Large scale farming is disastrous for our environment, and hard on the animals. I don’t like the concept of caged or tortured animals. I don’t like that these large scale operations make it hard for small time locals
to stay afloat. I don’t like the idea of importing food that can easily be
grown locally from other countries (some things I get, like tea coming from China, but most vegetables, and beef can be grown here just fine).

I read this article and I loved the concept, however I don’t think I’m ready to go full on vegan. I don’t think I could ever give up honey, and cheese is awesome.

I come from a hunting family where meat is a huge part of our lives, and there are certain things, venison, fishing, rabbit, just to name a few that I’m not sure I even want to give up. I also feel better about these meat sources since the environmental costs are much lower, and the animals are essentially free range.

Making the switch to more sustainable means, such as local, humane farms is definitely one option to keep meat in my diet, but does that
really solve the health issues? Besides it’s typically more expensive, and we are scrounging to save our pennies right now. The logical answer was to simply reduce my consumption of meat, but I already serve a weekly vegetarian meal, and I’m not sure how Chuck would feel about making the switch to 3 or 4 nights a week, since he doesn’t have the same outlook on the whole matter that I do. I took a look at my diet in an attempt to see where I could cut, and that pesky article I mentioned above popped back into my head. The idea works perfectly since it doesn’t disrupt anyone else’s habits. Both breakfast and lunch are on my own anyway. I also thought about cutting dairy, but decided it was best to start small.

Chuck’s immediate response to this whole thing was, so you can still eat meat with dinner right? When I said yes he immediately said ok, but it’s going to be hard for you. Luckily the only time it has been hard is the weekends. When I really want a breakfast sandwich with sausage, and then we are at a barbecue with burgers all around, but I have managed just fine. I also give myself some gracious space for holiday and big get togethers, because this diet is flexible. If I eat meat at both lunch and dinner one day I can very easily be a complete vegetarian the next day, it balances out in the end.
It’s been two weeks, and I’m feeling good. So I’m going to continue this thing for another couple weeks and see how it goes.Tell me what you think; is this stupid, or a great idea? Could you cut back to only eating meat and dairy once a day or less?

Orange Marinated Chicken

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This recipe is a quickie. It’s about as basic as it gets.
Toss the chicken in some marinade then broil or grill it until cooked through.
Fenito.

It’s great because it’s quick and easy like a side dish,
which means I can spend more time preparing veggies. If you read yesterdays
post you can see how this ties in with goals right now. Another bonus is that
is super easy to make a huge amount of wings, or legs to feed a crowd, and it’s
not a plain old hot dog. All things I can get behind, especially for the summer
season.

I like this recipe not only for its ease, but because it has
a different flavor than my usual chicken leg marinades, you know like Garlic & Herb Chicken Legs, Asian Glazed Chicken, or one of the 80 million lemon versions I have
tried.


Orange Marinated Chicken Legs
Zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed
1 lb chicken legs

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Wisk together the first 7 ingredients
until well combined. Add chicken tossing to cover in marinade, cover and let
stand for 10-15 minutes. Place the chicken on a prepared baking sheet with ¼ inch
slices of orange and bake for 15-20 minutes, basting with remaining marinade
1-2 times. Once the chicken is cooked through remove from heat and let cool for
5 minutes before serving. 
Since this recipe is so easy let’s talk about some awesome
veggie dishes to go with it. Plain old grilled asparagus is always a favorite
of mine, Spring Couscous would be pretty fabulous, Loaded Greek Salad is probably
a bit more summery, but if we were making this in the fall or winter, RoastedVegetable Salad is a great choice too.