I was wandering aimlessly around the grocery store last night trying to decide what to do for dinner. It was already after 7:00 pm and my thoughts of trying to eat earlier were already defeated. I’d had a good, healthy breakfast and a salad for lunch so was absolutely starving by the time I got to the store – never a good thing! Especially since ‘diet’ is one of those dirty four letter words that I don’t like using, much preferring lifestyle change . . . I wanted to give up and revert back to the box of pasta, a jar of sauce and some ground beef, it seemed too hard.
A deep inhale and constant self-talk of ‘you can do this’ sent my focus back in the right direction. I picked up some Corvina fish – had never heard of it and upon researching found that it’s a general name for a boatload of white, firm-fleshed fish, similar to sea bass. (No, not quite as wonderful as the Chilean variety!) While at the store, I stocked up on some fresh fruits (cherries, blue berries, peaches and red plums) as well as some veggies to accompany our fish. I’d prefer to get most of my produce at a local market and eat as sustainable as possible, but haven’t found one to cater to someone who doesn’t think about dinner until 7ish on a Monday eve! Now that might be a new line of work for me! LOL
As I may have mentioned, I love to cook and am taking a vow to do it as healthy as possible without sacrificing taste, flavor and my creative flair that I tremendously enjoy. It was getting late and I had to get dinner going or we were going to be eating at 11 pm – it wouldn’t have been the first time! I brushed the fish on both sides with olive oil that I had sprinkled with basil, cayenne, salt and pepper and let that marinate a bit while I began preparing the quinoa. For that I sautéed sweet white onion, mushrooms, zucchini and yellow squash. Stirred the veggies into the cooked quinoa and added some fresh squeezed lemon juice and basil chiffonade. I’d also picked up some heirloom tomatoes – I’ve heard such wonderful things about them, especially the North Carolina ones! I cut the funky shaped red one in wedges, the yellow one in thinner slices and the dark greenish red one in smaller pieces and tossed with scallions (white and green parts) and more of the fresh basil, dousing it all with kosher salt, ground pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar. It added some great color to our plates!
I broiled the fish for about 8 minutes. It was flaky and succulent and one I’ll definitely purchase again! I’d bought too much, but the leftovers will make some great fish tacos! And we have enough left over quinoa for lunch – but not today, venturing out to use a Groupon I got several months back that expires tomorrow! Hope I don’t stray too much from my eating plan, but if I do, I’ll work at getting back on track!
Oops . . . I’m supposed to be ready, guess I better get into the shower . . .
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