lemon-pepper crusted salmon with roasted garlic broccoli

In the year 2008, I had somehow miraculously obtained the trifecta of urban stability: a rewarding career, a wonderful relationship and a beautiful apartment. Over the past four years I've experienced various incarnations of these blessings, but the one thing that's since then remained steadfast has been my friendship with my work family from that time.

My Monday mornings weren't filled with week-starting dread; rather, they launched with an excitement and anticipation to see my colleagues. We laughed so loud at times there were tears; we played Uno, shared baked goods, fabricated utterly outlandish inside jokes, ichatted, gchatted, out-loud chatted, chat-rouletted and once even threw chairs across the room when the rest of our office was out of town. I can't make this stuff up.

We've all since moved onward and upward career-wise, but still meet for a monthly dinnertime gigglefest. There are three of us: A is the brains of the operation and inventive baker, S is our moral compass and creative genius, and I'm pretty sure I am there solely for entertainment value. And for this:

joy to the fishes (that are still) in the deep blue sea...

lemon-pepper crusted salmon
salmon
panko bread crumbs
lemon-pepper seasoning
Italian dressing
butter & olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 350. Marinate fish in Italian dressing for 25-30 minutes. Season panko crumbs with lemon pepper and salt, coat fish in crumbs. Heat skillet over medium-high heat, melt in butter & olive oil mix. Sear fish, skin side up, for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet and roast in oven for 15-20 minutes or until the middle looks juicy and awesome.

roasted garlic lemon broccoli
broccoli florets
FRESH garlic
olive oil
lemons
salt

Toss broccoli florets with minced fresh garlic, olive oil and salt. Roast for 20 minutes at 350, season with lemon juice before serving.


We had salad (nothing special), bread (from the bakery) and scalloped potatoes, too, but I'm ashamed to say they were of the Bob Evans pre-made variety so there is no recipe to be posted. My sincerest apologies...

the end of a (very brief) era

My 30-day experiment came to a joyous end yesterday at a baby shower for one of my closest friends.

Meatballs were had. Chicken salad croissants were devoured. And, most importantly, multiple mimosas were downed. And afterward, I didn't get sick. (Phew.)

But despite all that, my ways remain irrevocably changed. From now on, I will only eat meat once a week. (For clarity's -- and flexibility's -- sake, I mean one day a week, not one meal a week.)

With the fourth week of this project arrived physiological changes that were simply too clear to ignore. Vegetarianism bears with it a quiet lightness of being that operates subtly on multiple levels -- physical, ethical, mental -- and my hope is that allowing just a little bit of meat back into my life will allow me to maintain this feeling while occasionally still indulging that carnivorous primal urge. After all -- I may be many things, but Texan is and will always be first and foremost.

What follows is a brief assessment of this month's not-exactly-drastic-but-still-significant results.

How I look
Pretty much exactly the same. I didn't lose a single pound or inch from anywhere. I will say, however, that my nails are looking mighty healthy (when they're not covered in semi-chipped black polish).

How I feel
I know, now, what Mick Jagger meant when he sang about satisfaction: He must have been going vegetarian. Up until yesterday, I hadn't been full -- that busting at the seams, unbuttoning-jeans, need-to-pass-out-now type of full -- throughout the month. But I learned to adjust my expectation level from being full to simply no longer being hungry.


Weeks one and two were grumpy. Lots of jonesing, lots of craving, LOTS of smoking -- yikes. My desire began to subside in week three. And by week four, I barely wanted or thought about it at all.


I shaved 30 seconds off my average speed on my standard six-mile run, and that's only so far; I continue to PR every few runs. Last week's nine-miler came in at 1:15:41 -- definitely no Jeremy Wariner, but pretty quick for my long-distance norm and especially for a smoker of Marlboro Reds...kicking those is absolutely next up on the deprivation agenda. It's only a matter of when.

I also cut the time it takes to peruse a menu; for someone like my former self, who'd eat anything and everything available (so long as there were no olives in the mix), there's something to be said for only being allowed 20 percent of a restaurant's repertoire. Maybe, sometimes, less choice does equal more freedom.

And you know what? The whole thing was actually kind of nice. I was more productive, more focused and much less ethically compromised by the idea of consuming another mammal. It was a previously unbeknownst conviction, a guilt that I was completely unaware existed because it'd been so deeply ingrained in my lifestyle from such a young age.

I won't try to pretend that some thick veil has vanished, that I'm a whole new woman, that the heaviest of weights has been lifted from my soul. I will just say that I am different. Not dramatically different, maybe not even noticeably different, but most definitely not the same.

And now, a recipe, just in time for summer:

There was an abundance of tomatoes left over from the shower. I bought three one-pound containers of Camparis to make mini chicken salad croissants, clearly underestimating just how mini the croissants would turn out to be. So when I got home, after a five-miler fueled primarily by cakeballs and peach champagne (bad idea), I threw together this nice summery salad:

should have added red onion. was tired of chopping.

Yeah, I know -- it's not summer yet. But we live in D.C., and it's already insanely hot. (Probably because of all the sinners).

cucumber
tomato (I used Camparis, but romas or even grapes would be a good choice)
red onion (I was too lazy to put them in. don't be like me.)
reduced-fat Feta
olive oil
red wine vinegar
honey (just a little bit, hey baby, just a little bit...)
garlic powder
Italian seasoning (I used Penzey's Italian dressing base)
lots of salt and pepper

Whisk olive oil, honey, vinegar, garlic powder and Italian seasoning together. Cut up vegetables, toss with dressing and feta, season with salt and pepper to taste.

the stir-fry of my people

And by my people, I mean Texans. This stir-fry is not the most authentically Asian, but it's healthy, quick and supremely spicy.

just in time for passover. wait, what...

Once upon a time, I was ambitious and patient enough to whisk the sauce together in its own separate bowl. But alas, these days I'm more inclined to just slosh all the ingredients in the skillet willy-nilly. Can't a busy girl get a break?

PS — My recipe is salty. Like really, salty. Like banned by the American Heart Association salty. If your palate is even half as salty as is mine, consider only using a little soy sauce and tossing in a few tablespoons of white wine or chicken broth instead. Pineapple juice might add a nice teriyaki-like sweetness to this, too.

recipe:
garlic
ginger
sesame oil
soy sauce
green tea
sriracha
sesame-ginger salad dressing
broccoli
red cabbage
red peppers
carrots
onions
cooked brown rice

Heat drizzle of sesame oil over medium-high; stir-fry all veggies. Add garlic and ginger, stir-fry for two minutes, then add some soy sauce, lots of sriracha, a little green tea and some salad dressing. Stir well over medium heat for three minutes; serve over rice with a very large glass of water, and maybe a large glass of wine, too, if it's been one of those days...

250-calorie pizza. seriously.

There are few things in this world that I love more than pizza. But alas, indulging in it on a daily basis has for dietary purposes long been verboten -- until now.

Then, god willing, along came these:

it's not just a wrap. 

What appears to be your average wrap is in all reality an incognito, exceptionally thin pizza crust. And once I was through with it, it looked like this:

only 250 calories. seriously.

recipe:
1 100-calorie rosemary wrap (in the deli section)
3 tbsp marinara sauce
red bell peppers
onions
mushrooms
1/4 cup part-skim reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Bake wrap at 380 for 8 minutes. While crust is baking, sautee red peppers, onions and mushrooms. Remove crust from oven and top with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and sauteed veggies. Bake at 380 for 10-12 minutes. Shovel into face.