Citrus Fish and Beet Salad

Tonight's dinner included "mystery" fish and the beet salad I posted about yesterday. I'll get to the details in a minute, but first, an explanation about the "mystery..."

So I'm not sure if we just ate tilapia or flounder, but it was an error on the part of the clerk at the fish store today. Or possibly that the fish was mislabeled? I asked for tilapia, and then decided that the flounder looked better. So I told her that I wanted flounder instead, but she reached for (what I thought was) the tilapia. I said, "I actually wanted that one" and pointed to what I thought was flounder. She said that was the tilapia, and although I showed her that the signs said the opposite of what she gave me, she charged me the price for the tilapia (which was lower than the flounder). The woman in line behind me was laughing at the entire exchange! Regardless, I made some sort of white fish tonight as a main dish to eat along with our beet salad.

Now, back to dinner...

First of all, I was excited because it was the first time that I cooked fish myself! (yes, I know, some of you are probably cringing at this statement, but Dan usually does all of the prep involving raw things. EW. Tonight he was doing yard-work though, so it was all me. YAY!)

To season the fish, I used fresh orange and lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro. I also left the squeezed orange and lime in the pan. Somehow not that much of the flavor actually came through in the cooked fish (although Dan disagrees with me, he enjoyed the fish more than I did). I also made a side salad using red lettuce from the CSA, almonds, orange, and some of the leftover dressing from last night's salad.

We expected the beet salad to have a lot more garlic and lime flavor than it did. I think next time I'd use a lot more dressing, or perhaps not leave it overnight before we eat it. The cucumbers actually soaked up more of the flavor than anything else. Hmm...

As you can probably guess, we were both kind of disappointed with tonight's meal. I guess you win some and you lose some, right?

At least it all looks pretty!

My rating: 6.5/10
Dan's rating: 7/10

PS - For those of you who are curious, I'm not sure that I like beets anymore than I did before. I did like the striped beets better than the regular ones, but I still don't think I'd choose them over something else. Again, Dan disagreed with me - he really likes them!

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Beets and Carrots in a Lime Vinaigrette

I've never really been a big fan of beets, but I decided to give them a try again by making them at home. We saved our beets from the last time we got them from the farm, and I got more today so I was able to use a lot of them! I discovered once I cut into them that today's beets were actually striped, which I think is pretty cool. I wish I had taken a photo of them cut open. I'll do so if we ever get them again! I think they might have been chiogga ("candy-striped") beets, but I'm not sure. Anyone know if there are other varieties of striped beets?

Anyway, here's the recipe I made tonight (we're going to have it as a side dish tomorrow for dinner, but I was afraid that it might not look as pretty by then because of the beet juice...):

Beets and Carrots in a Lime Vinaigrette (Red Fire Farm)

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 medium beets, peeled and cubed
- 2 medium carrots, sliced diagonally
- 1 medium cucumber, cubed
- 6 Tbs veggie oil
- 3 Tbs lime juice
- 2 Tbs chopped cilantro or dill
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- salt to taste

PREPARATION:

1. Steam beets and carrots separately until tender.*
2. Combine dressing ingredients (they suggested that a jar works well because you can put the lid on and shake it all up.)
3. Put the veggies, including the cucumber in a bowl and toss with dressing. Chill.

Before adding the dressing:

All finished!

* As you can see below, I like to steam my veggies in a pot with a steam basket. I found this great silicone one that molds to the shape of just about any pot - you can probably find it at most housewares stores. (you can also steam veggies in the microwave - put just a little water in the bottom of a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. I'm guessing that this way is not as nutritious, but I don't really know for sure... and I do this when making frozen veggies)

Finally, here are a bunch of other recipes I considered making before selecting this one:

• Roasted Beet Salad (Claire Robinson)
• Beet Green Gratin (Alton Brown)
• Roasted Beet Salad with Cocoa Vinaigrette (Paula Deen)
• Beet Salad with Watercress Drizzle (Ellie Krieger)
• Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad (Giada De Laurentiis)
• Beet-Orange Salad (Food Network Magazine)

Oh, and if we ever get golden beets, I want to make this recipe!

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Tilapia with Sesame Greens & Garlic Scapes

Our kitchen is finally unpacked enough that we could cook a real meal, and last night's dinner was great!

Sesame Broiled Tilapia (adapted from AboutSeafood.com)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 lb. fresh tilapia fillets

- 2 tbs. butter, melted

- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

- 3 tbs. sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp. of soy sauce (our addition to the recipe)

PREPARATION:

1. Combine melted butter, lemon juice and soy sauce in a shallow dish and dip the fillets in the mixture. Place on a lightly greased ovenproof pan.

2. Broil under high heat about 2 minutes each side, basting with the butter/lemon mixture several times during the cooking process.

3. After the final baste, top fillets with sesame seeds. Broil an additional 1-2 minutes until the seeds are golden brown.

Sesame Greens with Garlic Scapes (from Red Fire Farm)

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 bunch turnip greens
- 2 turnips or kohlrabi
- 1 bunch swiss chard (we used kale instead)
- greens from 1 bunch of beets
- 4 garlic scapes 1/8 cup oil
- 2 tbs. sesame oil
- 2 tbs. sesame seeds
- 1 tbs. tamari (soy sauce)
- 1⁄4 tsp. cayenne (opt.)


PREPARATION:

1. Chop greens, removing stems and chopping finely (they need more time to cook so if you want to use them you just have to start them earlier). Thinly slice turnips and cut scapes into 1 inch pieces.


2. In a wok or similar skillet, heat oil until hot and toss in turnips, scapes, and any stem pieces. Cook for 5 minutes.


3. Add beet greens and tamari, cover and cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add cayenne, sesame seeds, swiss chard, and turnip greens and cook until greens are wilted.


My rating: 8.5/10
Dan's rating: 8/10

One final note about fish - please do your best to buy sustainable seafood whenever possible! Click here to download a great pocket-sized regional list that you can bring with you to the grocery store (from the Monterey Bay Aquarium). They also have an IPhone app, which you can access here.

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