Fast Fish

If I could describe this week in one word, it would be "hectic." Matt was taking a biology course every day over an hour away and then had soccer functions every night, and I was in the city multiple days and trying to juggle work and Riker solo. Suffice it to say I'm glad it's the weekend! Also suffice it to say that cooking was the last thing on my mind when I rolled home from work at 8:30 pm after a 13 hour day. Matt's family took really good care of me this week, keeping Riker for long hours and inviting me over for late evening dinners.

I ate once at Matt's mom's house and twice at his sister's new place with the whole family. Their new home is really coming along and looking so cute.

She's a huge Caesar Salad lover and, after eating it at her house twice this week, she's starting to make me an addict as well. Yum.

I did have to force myself to cook a few days, though, since on Sunday we took a trip to our favorite fish market, Ahearn's, and came home with a bunch of fresh, wild caught seafood that I really didn't want to freeze (it's so much better fresh). Poor planning, huh?

The seafood is so delicious that it doesn't need much to pull together into a dinner, and all these meals were quickies - but I have to say, they came out looking pretty stylish. A pound of shrimp got tossed with my favorite smokey paprika and fresh garlic, then baked in the oven while I blanched two heads of broccoli rabe.

I saute my blanched broccoli rabe with olive oil, fresh garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and s&p. It comes out perfect every time. Matt and I sat with this big platter between us and ate "family style," picking at shrimp and grabbing forkfuls of the rabe.

Seafood meal #2 was Asian style Ahi tuna. To make the tuna, I coated it with black sesame seeds and seared it in my cast iron skillet for a few minutes on each side; when it came off, I doused it in a mixture of low sodium soy sauce, wasabi powder and ginger powder.

The sides were even easier. I had picked up some seaweed salad at Ahearn's, which required no prep at all. We actually got the edamame free from the owner of Silverton Organic Farm - I swear, every time we go he gives us something free. Love it. I blanched the edamame for about 8 minutes, then tossed it with sea salt. The whole dinner was on the table in about 20 minutes, can't beat that.

And seafood meal #3 was herb encrusted halibut. I really love halibut and was excited when I saw it at Ahearn's. The crust is a play on a Weight Watcher's recipe I've made a bunch of times, but I adjusted it slightly based on what I had in the cabinet and garden.

In the crust:

- Hazelnut flour
- Fresh basil, thyme and parsley
- Lemon zest (a ton of it)
- S&P
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Red wine vinegar

I baked off the fish in the oven, and in the meantime julienned a couple of garden zucchinis and carrots. I like julienning veggies because they look pretty and cook super fast - about 3 minutes in a steamer basket. I tossed the steamed veggies in a little butter, topped them with the fish and then dinner was on the table.

Lunch too. There were leftovers, so I packed them into a glass Tupperware container and filled in the gaps with garden cherry tomatoes, and lunch was ready for work the next day. Cherry tomatoes cook in the microwave in about 2 minutes, so I love throwing them in raw to any lunch for an extra boost of veggies.

Riker just went down for a nap so I'm going to get myself a shower and then I think we're heading out to the beach for the day. Enjoy your Saturday!