Sea Bass with roasted Zucchini and Carrots

We recently moved into town to be closer to everything, like our work, doctors, shopping, and our favorite gym. We also have access to at least three farmers markets in this community instead of just one. However, we are still taking advantage of the delivery service provided by SLO Veg, partly because it saves me time and partly because it allows us to have a variety of fruits and vegetables we might not normally purchase. This way I have to do a little recipe investigation, which keeps cooking fun and interesting, instead of doing the same old thing week after week. Our delivery day also changed, so now I get whatever the fish catch of the day is for Monday from SLO Fresh Catch, as well. While we are not now right next to the ocean, we are still just a short drive from the fisheries. We have cows across the street. We might even get a few chickens for the backyard. It's the SLO life!

We were excited to get some Sea Bass in our delivery this week. It's a nice firm, meaty fish with fewer bones to pick through than the Grenadier and Cod selections. We had to take tweezers and pull out some bones that looked like long needles, but there were only about four of them in one of the pieces.

This olive oil is from Tasty Olive in Monterey

The fish was simply prepared with just a little coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning, then pan fried in a mixture of olive oil and butter. It took just 2 or 3 minutes on each side before the fish began to flake apart. Then I removed the fish from the pan and deglazed the pan with some white wine (a lovely, local Dry Gewurtztraminer). I squeezed in the juice from one big Meyer lemon and added a teaspoonful of capers to the sauce, which was then poured over the fish after it was plated.

I made a side dish of orzo pasta that I browned lightly in butter in the pot, then added water (1:2 ratio pasta/water). When it was cooked through, I stirred in some shredded Romano-Parmesan cheese and a small handful of chopped chives and basil.

Our plates were finished with a generous helping of cheesy orzo pasta and some roasted zucchini, red onion and carrots. The special thing about roasting the vegetables was I used a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, picked right from our front walkway planter, which were simply placed on top of the vegetables that had been drizzled with buttery olive oil on a cookie sheet. I let them go in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes, and the flavors of the herbs infused throughout the vegetables during the cooking time. Finished with a sprinkling of coarse salt: Simple, savory, delicioso!

Mexicali Tacos, corn, zucchini and black beans

Fish tacos can be the most refreshing meal! I like them because they are fast, filling and satifying. I like to make fish tacos with corn tortillas, doubled up so they don't crack and lose the filling in your hand.

We got some Pacific Grenadier in our last SLO Veg box, and since I already had some corn and zucchini on hand, Mexican-style fish tacos came to mind. I seasoned the fish with a simple blend of salt, pepper and garlic (Santa Maria-style seasoning), then coated the filets in flour and fried them in coconut oil until the coating was crispy and browned. I warmed the tortillas in the microwave because I don't like really greasy, pan fried tortillas, and laid them on the plate to be filled. Four small filets weighing one pound makes enough fish filling for about eight tacos. The fish tacos were garnished with cojita cheese and cilantro.

The real reason I wanted Mexican food tonight, though, was for the corn-on-the-cob. I boiled the corn and coated it with real Mexican creme from our little Mexican market down the street. Then I sprinkled my taco seasoning blend on top of the mayo and rolled each ear in crumbled cojita cheese. I think this is the best thing to eat in the world!

Our dinner also included black beans straight-out-of-the-can, spiced up with the taco seasoning, and some pan-fried onion, garlic and zucchini seasoned with the Santa Maria-style blend. I also made some mugs of Red Beer (Equal parts V-8 and beer, splash of lemon, Worchestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, sprinkled with taco seasoning). Then I grabbed the apricots that were perfectly ripe and made an apricot crisp for dessert.

Definately one of my favorite meals!

I get so excited when I get the box and all kinds of recipes go dancing through my head. Tonight I picked just two things, the zucchini and the apricots, and made our dinner.

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Taco Seasoning:

1/2 C chili powder

1/4 C onion powder

1/8 C ground cumin

1 Tbs. garlic powder

1 Tbs. paprika

1 Tbs. sea salt 

1 tsp. ground oregano

Blend all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use 1-2 Tbs. to a pound of ground meat and add one cup water. Simmer to blend flavors.

Chicken in Orange Sauce with Tomato-Squash Strata

I put together a quick baked Chicken in Orange Sauce the other day before I layed down to take a nap before work. I needed something something that would literally cook all by itself so I could could awaken to a hot meal, spend that quality 15-20 minutes with the family, and still get to work on time. So this is a chicken dish you can do in your sleep!

I made two casseroles, one with chicken and one with vegetables. They each required different cooking times, but they would be okay cooking at the same temperature. My chicken dish was simply chicken thighs coated in avocado oil, drizzled with orange juice and seasoned with garlic salt and black pepper. I put the orange rinds in with the chicken and sprinkled it with chopped green onions. I covered the dish with foil and put it into the frig until baking time. This one would need about an hour of baking.

Then I assembled the vegetable casserole. It couldn't get any easier...I just chopped onions to cover the bottom of the square baking dish, drizzled in avocado oil and then layered rows of alternating zucchini, tomato and yellow squash that all came in the box from SLO Veg. More avocado oil drizzled on top, then seasonings: coarse salt, fresh ground black pepper and dried thyme and marjoram. A handful of parmesan cheese on top completed the prep, then the dish was covered and into the frig it went. 

I let my husband have the honors of putting the chicken in the oven to bake about two hours before I needed to leave for work. I asked him to put the vegetable casserole in 30 minutes after the chicken. He is pretty good at following directions, so I had complete confidence in him. When I woke up, I checked on the progress. The dishes just needed some browning, so I removed the foil covers and cranked the oven temp up to 375° for 15 more minutes. During that time I showered and got dressed for work. Then we sat down together and ate dinner and chatted before I had to leave. The dishes, of course, were left for Lee to take care of.  With a full stomach, he didn't mind a bit. 

Recipe:

4 chicken thighs or breasts

Avocado or olive oil

Juice from 2 oranges

garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper

Thyme and marjoram

Put chicken in a glass baking dish and coat with oil. Squeeze orange juice all over chicken. Season with salt, pepper, thyme and marjoram. Cover with foil and bake for one hour at 350°. Remove foil and increase oven temperature to 375°. Bake for 15 more minutes until chicken is browned.