Sometimes I think I make the best meals on the spur of the moment.
Yesterday I didn’t have anything on the menu plan because (1) the repairman was coming and had no idea what time – just knew he would call 30 minutes before he was to arrive and (2) I had to leave at 2 p.m. to go get Addie. Vince was going to stay home for deliveries and in case the repairman had not come yet.
I knew I had to fix lunch. We had eaten all our leftovers (even all that spinach got used). I kept thinking . . I’ll run to the Mexican restaurant and pick something up and bring it home or I’ll run to Panda Express and get something through the drive thru but I didn’t want to do that. I need structure and I need something on the menu for every day. Without it, I don’t do well.
I opened the freezer door and saw a package of frozen mahi mahi. Ahhh . . lunch. It thaws quick and I can do a lot of different things with it. I looked on the bag and there was a recipe that sounded great and even better . . I had all the stuff to make it. I had bought fresh dill and fresh mint earlier for another recipe so I had both of those.
There were three fairly thick pieces of fish in the bag and I figured since I was going to broil it, I’d slice it in half and make it thinner.
All I did was pat the fish dry, salt and pepper it. Make a sauce (lemon juice, mayo, salt, pepper, fresh dill, fresh mint and crumbled feta), spread the sauce on the fish, add a lemon slice and broil for about 10 – 15 minutes.
How easy was that? And, it was delicious but . . we love fish.
We also love lima beans and I had bacon grease in the skillet from frying bacon Thursday morning so I cooked the lima beans with a tablespoon or so of bacon grease (don’t judge!), fried up some potatoes and dinner was done in less than half an hour.
I’ll definitely make that fish again.
Sibyl+Scott says
Judy and I am just the opposite–I don’t know how many menus I have written down, only to not cook anything that was on the menu. Someone will ask for this that or the other, and I’ll make that instead. Most of the stuff I make I have ingredients available in my pantry/freezer/fridge. I don’t make fancy or exotic stuff as you do, so don’t have all of that kind of stuff–but we fly by the seat of our pants most of the time when it comes to cooking. I usually ask the evening before what they would like for the next day. My favorite is always reservations—but it’s probably been years since we have had that for dinner.
Cindy F says
We love fish too and that recipe sounds wonderful! Feta is one of two cheeses my son likes so this will be a great recipe to try. Will have to try to remember to get some fresh dill and mint as those are herbs I don’t use often.
Liz says
Dill and mint are easy to grow – just be careful where you plant them since they can take over via seeds or roots. I’m starting to get seed company catalogs and emails, so I am thinking about what to plant next season and I’ll start some microgreens in my kitchen pots in a couple days. I have an aerogarden setup and the extra light and the green growth is great for combating winter blahs.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I had both growing this year. The dill was in the garden and I clipped it before it went to seed. I did dry some but since I had fresh, I used it. My mint stayed in a pot and after the garden was done, the pot didn’t get watered and it’s gone. I don’t think I’ll ever plant mint in the ground here. In Texas, it wasn’t so bad because it was hard even get mint to grow but here, it would definitely become invasive.
I still have the aerogardens somewhere but I could actually keep plants alive in the sunroom during the winter here – maybe next winter.
Liz says
…I find good recipes in many different spots. I somehow got on an email list for a cooking site and they send out daily emails. I could unsubscribe, but some of the recipes look good. So I either delete the email, archive it to check out the recipe later, or I check it out.
I like this site since if I like the recipe, the printout option is a pdf file. Unfortunately, this makes tracking recipes even harder – cards, books, pdfs, weblinks, etc It is almost easier to just do a web search than looking at all the options…. oops, mini rant over…
I did get a good recipe for creamy lemon chicken that I was going to try yesterday, but the wind forecast made me wonder about the risk of an power outage. So, I made a nice chicken and rice soup with half of the chicken and I’ll try the lemon chicken tonight, provided that the wind moves on… max wind gusts are in the 40-50 mph range. I hear things creaking and moving around….
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The wind was crazy in east Texas too but it never made it to SW MO. Still could I suppose but I haven’t seen wind warnings. If you like the creamy lemon chicken, would you share the recipe. That sounds good. I agree with you – it’s often easier to do an online search for a recipe than to try to find one online but I love seeing recipes pop up – they often make me want to stop right then and make a new recipe.
Nelle Coursey says
Things just taste better with a little bacon grease!
montanaclarks says
I so wish my husband liked fish!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
There are so few things that Vince won’t eat. It makes cooking very easy for me and I realize how lucky I am.