Donna's Daily Dish
Inspiring people to create every day recipes
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Inspiring people to create every day recipes
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Now that the holidays are around the corner, my husband will be staying later at work. In rummaging through my freezer the other day, I was looking for something lighter to have for supper. My last package of fluke was tucked in there. In my recipe file I had a recipe for fish fillets over lentils and vegetables that I found in Prevention Magazine back in March 1999. The recipe has shredded carrots, sliced onions and baby spinach over lentils.
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The other night I was at a loss as to what to make for supper. I wasn't in the mood for chicken or pork, but I did have some frozen shrimp that I purchased from Wegmans that is farm raised in Belize. I found the taste and quality excellent as well as the price, under $20 for two pounds. In had in my folder a recipe for grilled New Orleans-style shrimp from the July 2003 issue of Gourmet Magazine. There's an easy marinade for the shrimp, which is just olive oil, garlic and salt. However, what makes this dish so incredible is the sauce which has butter, chili powder, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and some fresh lemon juice. It has kick and is, as they say, finger lickin' good! Make sure you have plenty of crusty bread on hand to soak up the sauce. Every Wednesday, Whole Foods updates their weekly specials. If you have a smartphone, you can download their app and find out what their coupon and sale specials are. Ending today unfortunately, is their sale on USA wild caught Marine Stewardship Council Certified Sea Scallops for $18.99/lb. I know that is expensive, considering Wegmans had local scallops for $14.99/lb. back in September/October. Since my husband and I would be having dinner together, we decided to splurge. I had a craving for pasta, so I dug up a recipe I haven't done in awhile. As I mentioned in a previous post, Monday night's supper was going to be scallops. I swung by Whole Foods on the way home from work and picked up a pound ($18.99/lb. through August 30th). I merely dredged them in Wegmans basting flour and sauteed them in my non-stick skillet with some butter. To round out the meal, I used my grill pan to cook 1/4" sliced NJ zucchini (Delicious Orchards $0.89/lb.) and brown rice. My daughter gave me a small amount of spinach she had in her refrigerator, so I steamed that as a bed for the scallops. My daughter was down this weekend and I gave her the option of what she would prefer for dinner Sunday night. Fish was her choice, now I had to find a recipe. Back in March 1999, I found a recipe in the magazine Prevention. In the issue they had a section titled Fast and Fabulous, Fill Up and Slim Down. One of the recipes that I have been making over the years is the Fish Fillets over Lentils and Vegetables. I normally make it was white fish fillets, but instead of the fillets I selected from the fishmonger at Wegmans fresh caught North Carolina Shrimp ($14.99/lb.) and scallops from Point Pleasant ($19.99/lb.). It was an indulgence, but in the end delicious. Both the scallops and shrimp were sweet and tender. As Wegmans has bulk section of nuts, grains and legumes, I purchased green lentils there. I cooked two cups of raw lentils in four cups of water.The lentils doubled in quantity when cooking; I only need two cups cooked. For the scallops, I tossed them in Wegmans basting flour and when cooking, I seasoned both them and the shrimp with salt and pepper. It was the perfect summertime meal! I mentioned in my previous post that had my daughter and son-in-law not left early on July 4th, I already had a dinner in mind. However, I was left with a dilemma as to what to make for my husband and I. Off to Wegmans I went and I picked up a bag of fresh mussels (2 lbs. for $6.99) and a jar of their smooth marinara sauce.
I must admit, this was the lazy man's out, however, in the past when I have done this it was great. However, it's all about the sauce. Before their demise, A&P use to sell jar tomato sauce made with New Jersey tomatoes that was seasoned just right. However, now that they are gone, I tried Wegmans sauce. It was too thick and lacked the type of seasoning I would prefer on mussels, a touch of spice. I was going to use my homemade fresh tomato sauce, but I thought it would have been too thin, but in hindsight, I should have gone with my gut on this one. The preparation for this couldn't have been easier. Place a bag of mussels in a 10-12"diameter shallow sauté pan, pour tomato sauce over it, cover and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until the mussels open. Perhaps the next time I might try one of Lidia's recipes, Mussel Brodetto, which has a cooking time of just 10 minutes. I was at a loss as to what to cook this evening. I brought out my cookbook "Lidia's Italy," and went to one of the yellow tabs that my husband attached to a recipe he found interesting. One of the recipes he like was Grilled Tuna with Oregano. I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home from work and picked up tuna there. It was $25.99/lb. Just to be curious, I also decided to stop at Mr. Shrimp in Belmar to see what he charges for tuna. Mr. Shrimp's price was $18.99/lb. I should have went there first, oh well. I should also check out the tuna prices at Wegmans the next time I'm there. Tonight's supper was fresh caught stripe bass and cod from my neighbor who fishes with his brother-in-law off the coast. I consulted my son on the best way to prepare it. Based on his suggestion, I placed the fish in foil packets and topped the fish with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, fresh thyme, cilantro (my husband thought he picked up parsley), thinly sliced lemon and some EVOO.
I closed them up and popped them on a preheated outdoor gas grill, as I wanted to keep the kitchen cool. I turned off the center burner and placed the packets on the grill for a total of 8 minutes and turning them midway through. I had some leftover pasta salad from the weekend and I made a green salad. Perfection!
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