Yummy dinner tonight!!!

Pappi joined us for dinner tonight. He leaves Monday and will be up at the mountain tomorrow, so tonight was our last dinner with my dad for awhile. We are going to miss him!

Pappi brought tilapia, which is my new favorite fish. I LOVE it. It cooks easily, has a mild flavor that takes on other flavors well, is low mercury, and is super fast. Oh, and did I mention it isn't that expensive? Love it.

I walked past fresh basil at New Seasons today. A woman was stocking them and I just happened to walk by as she threw some on the display, which sent the smell of fresh basil my way and made my mouth water. Suddenly basil was added to my menu. So here it is, the dish I wound up with:

Broiled Tilapia On Citrus Basil Greens

1 onion, chopped and divided
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 lemons
1 lime
pepper
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (or white wine- I just didn't have any)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1 bunch kale
2 baby bok choy
4-5 tilapia filets


(You could easily substitute whatever greens you have- spinach, kale, bok choy...it's all good!)

Turn oven on to broil. Set up broiling pan- on bottom, put 1/4 of the chopped onions and pour some olive oil over it. Spray broiling rack with cooking spray and lay the fish on it. Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon and 1/2 of a lime on the tilapia, sprinkle with pepper and repeat on the other side. Set aside.


Sautee 3/4 of the onion and garlic in 1/2 the olive oil, juice from 1 lemon and the white wine vinegar 5-10 minutes. Add greens mix and basil with remaining olive oil, sautee 5 minutes at medium high heat. After 5 minutes, turn heat to low, cover and let cook 5-10 more minutes.

Put fish in the oven and broil 3-4 minutes on each side.

Make a bed of greens on the plate, top with fish and ENJOY!

Today was a beautiful, sunny day here. I wore sunglasses, rolled down my window (for 2 minutes until I realized it was still REALLY cold!) and enjoyed myself. This dish was the PERFECT way to end a day like today- fresh and light with basil and citrus to remind me of beautiful summer days.

Do NOT make these!

Unless, of course, you have:

a) Superhuman will power abilities

b) An ability to eat WAY too much

c) A party or some event where you can shove some of them off on others and not feel so guilty. Unless you elbow someone in the rib in an attempt to get them to drop the last one. Then you should feel guilty. Sort of.

Sweets & Beets chips

4 sweet potatoes

4 beets

3/4 liter olive oil

salt, cinnamon or ginger if desired as seasoning

Use a mandolin slicer to slice the sweets and beets very thin. Keep the veggies separate.

Heat olive oil in large pot on stove (I had it set to number 7 of 10). Once bubbling, drop in 1/3 of the sweet potato slices. Leave in oil for 4-6 minutes, until the bubbling subsides and well...until they look like chips! Remove from oil with slotted spoon and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with seasoning as desired (I actually preferred the unseasoned kind, but I may be a rare breed). Repeat with the sweet potatoes until all are done.

Once all sweet potatoes are done, repeat with the beets (since they are smaller you can do them in just 2 batches). Beets will need a little less cooking time, probably 3-5 minutes. Remove to a separate paper towel lined cookie sheet, season if desired.

Once chips are cooled (if you haven't eaten them all yet), toss them into a large bowl together. The purpose of keeping them separate this long and doing the sweets first is that done this way, the colors make a very pretty mix of bright orange and purple.

Enjoy! (And don't say I didn't warn you!)

The veggie that ALWAYS requires seconds!

I have found the key. The key to yumminess, that is! Dusty, Skyler and I always want seconds of this dish. There is no such thing as "leftover" kale and pancetta. Alex...well, he's been in a not eating phase since I started making it, so no word on his opinion.

Kale & Pancetta

1 bunch fresh cale, chopped in 1" pieces

1 package cubed pancetta

1 leek or onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, slivered

olive oil

freshly grated pepper

Sautee garlic, pepper and leek in olive oil at medium heat for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic! Add pancetta and cook 3-5 more minutes.

Add kale, sprinkle with more olive oil and cover for 5-10 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.

Remove lid and cook for 2-3 more minutes while stirring frequently.

Skyler just called to me from bed and said "MOOOOOM, I'm still hungry even after dinner. Thinking he was trying to scam some ice cream (which he had on the way down the mountain after a day of snowboarding), I asked what he wanted. Imagine my delight when he asked if we had any kale left!