I cooked a whole octopus!

It was very simple once the fish man cleaned it.  Pan, olive oil, garlic, delicious.  The little fish are alici in Italian, or European anchovies.

Cooking calamari at home - more fun with mezcal

Though I love calamari, I've never made it myself.  It turned out to be easy and cheap (from Santa Monica Seafood).  It's already clean, so it was as simple as slicing and sticking it in the pan with olive oil, garlic and a "glug" or two of mezcal.  I had it with an arugula tomato salad dressed in balsamic.

Albacore with Fried Sage, Oregano and Garlic

Trader Joe's frozen fish - the trick to get a good texture is to use several paper towels to press out moisture after thawing and just before cooking.  I love fresh herbs, this time sage and oregano.  I cooked this in a mixture of coconut and olive oils, about 2/3 ratio.

Spicy curry fish with greens and garlic

Sometimes all you need to make fish and greens exciting again is a new spice blend.  I got some spicy curry from a Pakistani stall in the Nuovo Mercato Esquilino.  The fish is a snapper, I think.  The greens are lambs' lettuce or purslane.  They are the only vegetable that has any significant amount of omega-3 fats, so this meal packs a very healthy punch.  I've seen this kind of greens at Trader Joe's.

Very fresh orange roughy

from Santa Monica Seafood. Pasture butter, garlic, mustard, cumin, black pepper, lime and herb salad.

Sockeye salmon with Meyer lemon and fried bay leaves and garlic

Snipped the bay leaves into tiny pieces so they'd get crunchy along with the fried garlic, sliced Meyer lemon thin.

F is for Fennel and Foraging

I got some free pomelos and a $2 fennel bulb to liven up my basics this week. I made my regular winter chopped salad of celery, red cabbage and daikon, this time with pomelo slices and pomelo dressing.


My turkey breast was juicy with pomelo, garlic and white onion, and sliced fennel bulb.

My mahi was delectable with fennel and garlic, cooked in olive oil.

Sunday Meal Prep

I made apple cider vinegar chicken with lots of cumin, onions and garlic, and I made a red cabbage and celery chopped salad with fresh squeezed orange juice dressing.
You're seeing my egg salad with chopped celery and tops, plus chopped broccoli slaw from the pre-made bags at Trader Joe's. For dinner I had swordfish with plenty of garlic, rosemary and a sprinkle of paprika.

How I Do It - Curry Mahi and Zucchini

Less than 10 minutes: mahi, zucchini olive oil and Thai curry powder.

Heirloom Zucchini

I didn't know that zucchini is one of the most genetically modified foods until recently, so when I saw organic heirloom zucchini at the Farmers Market, I decided to try it since it was the same price as the rest. It was green and white with thick skin and a coating of soft reddish spines that rubbed off when I washed it. The taste was, of course, very similar to normal zucchini, but stronger. I had it with spinach and sole.

Experiments with Raw and Cooked Celery

$2.00 for a bunch of organic celery at Santa Monica Farmers Market, intense celery taste. Raw with leaves with sliced daikon, tart lemon juice, olive oil, caraway seeds, pepper, Greek seasoning from Spicely. Used the leaves as delicate aromatic herb for sole filet with olive oil, pepper, Greek, mustard powder. Like butter.

Dover Sole and a Light Hand

Jamaican jerk seasoning can be overwhelming: sometimes I want that and sometimes I don't. This time, using a light hand on a mild white fish was just the right choice.

Mahi Mahi White Sesame and Coconut

Sesame seeds to liven up my basic red cabbage with lemon olive oil dressing really came to life when fried up with some coconut crust on mahi.

Avocado Madness

Sunday lunch of avocado, red cabbage, salad greens, and sole from the Santa Monica Farmers Market, cooked it with garlic and Italian seasoning from Spicely.
Second pic - avocado mess with lemon juice and Penzey's Northwest seasoning, which is tasty but a little too salty for me after all.

Ahi with Basil

Fish on the weekday equals fast, satisfying and staying lean.

Sole and Vegetables

I got two beautiful large sole filets from the Santa Monica Farmers Market for $7, spinach is on sale at Vons, and I added some squash and red chard - all for my post-workout meal on Sunday.

Mahi Mahi with Asparagus

Trader Joe's frozen mahi mahi comes out nice, good texture and mild flavor. I made it with asparagus sauteed in some pasture butter.

Fresh Halibut

Sometimes you can find good deals at ethnic markets. This fresh wild halibut was $6.99 a pound at Nijiya. I made it with Spicely Shrimp and Crab Broil. The first four ingredients are paprika onions garlic and mustard.

Creole Yellowtail

Our New Orleans friends recommended Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning. I used it to do up a piece of my overfished (crap!) yellowfin from Trader Joe's. I'm always instructing others to READ INGREDIENTS. Turns out this seasoning is composed mostly of salt, so it is meant to be used sparingly. My fish was pretty but tooth-numbing.

Look for low- or no-sodium versions or make your own with red pepper and garlic.

Daikon Cabbage Slaw with Black Caraway Seeds

Did very well with the cabbage last week (reduced appetite and an extra bit of fat loss), so I made a new one today. This was very heavy on daikon, a cheap Japanese radish. It is a cruciferous veggie, of the cabbage family, and a family you should sample every day (Brussels, kale, radish). I used regular cabbage this time.

I picked up black caraway seeds when there were no brown for my sauerkraut. I do not like the black seeds in the kraut. In the raw slaw they are fantastic.

The dressing was again based on Horizon sour cream and Bragg apple cider vinegar, this time with chili powder and fresh cracked long pepper.

I had it for lunch with a coconut crusted piece of yellowfin. Don't forget to season coconut heavily if you're using it as crust.