Last night I had one of my very best friends over for dinner. She lives in my hometown of Louisville, Ky and I can’t even remember how long it had been since I’ve seen her so we were really looking forward to catching up during her short visit to NYC. Instead of going to a busy restaurant or noisy bar, I decided to have her over for a quiet dinner made with love. She was due to arrive around 6:30 p.m. and I knew that I would be coming straight home from work and into the kitchen so I wanted to choose a menu that was equally impressive, healthy and simple to prepare so I went with tin foil red snapper, coconut brown rice and a colorful salad of arugula, fennel, yellow pepper and radish topped with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I first rinsed 2 cups of rice (I normally recommend soaking it for at least 3-4 hours to improve digestability but due to time constraints skipped this step) and threw it into my trusty rice cooker with a can of light coconut milk.
While the rice was cooking, I got started on the fish. I preheated the oven to 400 then diced up two cloves of garlic and mixed them with 1/2 tsp each of sea salt and pepper and 3 tbsps of olive oil.
After I rinsed the fish, I laid the filets onto two squares of parchment paper in place of tin foil – either works – and I brushed the olive oil mixture over the filets to coat them. I had some fresh rosemary in the fridge so I also sprinkled that on. Dill, thyme or any other fresh or dried herb of choice works too!
(Sorry about the blurry photos!)
I then thinly sliced an orange and laid 2-3 slices down the length of each filet, folded the parchment paper over on all sides to make a square packet and baked them for 15-20 minutes.
While the fish was baking and the rice finishing up, I threw my salad together. I highly recommend a mandoline for thinly slicing vegetables over salad. It has changed my life and eliminates time consuming chopping. The fennel, pepper and radishes glide right over the blade and fall lightly onto the salad. It’s genius!
I have this Oxo Good Grips hand held mandoline slicer and it works beautifully – just watch your fingers!
Dessert was fresh cherries in season since my Amazake-inspired dessert attempted the night before didn’t work out so well.
Overall, the dinner was a success – I love connecting with friends over home cooked meals!
Equally as fun as cooking dinner is getting creative with leftovers. This morning I had leftover brown rice so I decided to use the rice to make coconut rice pudding. This stuff is to die for and is super simple to make.
I dumped my two cups of leftover rice into a pot, added a can of light coconut milk, a half cup of almond milk, three Tbsps of unsweetened shredded coconut, 1/3 cup of all-natural, organic maple syrup (I used a little less so it wouldn’t be too sweet) and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. And cooked it all over medium heat for seven to 10 minutes.
Once it cooled, I had a little as a sweet snack this afternoon with sliced almonds and blueberries on top. Yum!
Other ideas for leftover brown rice: make it into a breakfast porridge (recipe can be found here) or add it to salad for lunch. Whole grains provide energy and nutrition.
How do you like to eat whole grains?
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