Monday, January 19, 2009

apparently i need to step it up a notch.

brian recently told me he did not want to eat meat anymore for dinner, which leaves me scratching my head a bit to come up with meals. i tend not to be a very creative cook, much like other parts of my life. (see especially: sewing.) i'm a very good copycat and great at putting my own spin on things but atrocious at coming up with them on my own. i'm content that this is my creative lot in life and i make the best of it but it sure does suck when it comes to thinking of what to make for a man who once told me that souplantation was a restaurant full of appetizers and where was the real food?

so i got some scallops and some tilapia at the store the other night and made scallop crostini caprese, a little recipe card that i picked up at the store. super easy. basically bruschetta with a scallop on top. brian's comment (besides that it looked delicious) was that it looked so nice!

the tilapia i just broiled in the oven and served with a lemon-rosemary vinaigrette, basmati rice, and broccoli. also super easy, another supermarket recipe card. we have two huge rosemary bushes in our front yard so i thought i'd get fancy and snipped a sprig of rosemary to garnish his fish and twisted a lemon on the side. he asked what the green stuff was, was he supposed to eat it?

* update: the point was not so much my lack of creativity in cooking but my lack of creativity in presentation. brian was alternately thrilled and confused at how "fancy" things looked on the plate, because though i love to cook i generally do not run a gourmet restaurant at dinnertime and do not do frilly things like drizzle balsamic vinegar or garnish with "weeds" (his term).

3 comments:

Jessika said...

Falafel-- a total godsend. Your local store (Safeway even, maybe) likely sells the powdery mix in the bulkbin aisle. If not, let me know, I'll send you some. 1 cup mix, add and egg, add water, mix into the consistency for patties, spray some olive oil into a pan, and cook lightly on each side. Serve with whatever you want. Bob LOVES them, and he's a meat eater. I like to have them with the cilantro dressing from Trader Joes, as well as some tomatoes. They're especially good in a pita.

Also: Polenta is great! Again: CHEAP at trader joes. And veggie homemade pizzas (I have a few great recipes, if you want them, pizza dough included).

Ooh, and I'll have to send you a mix that's totally phenomenal...

Can you tell I have a lot of vegetarian friends?

JNJIMallonFamilyBlog said...

I am not a very creative cook I just have lots of recipe books. I recommend going to the bookstore and browsing for good recipe books that have a lot of options. You can even make meat more interesting with some of the recipes.

eireann said...

i have a minor obsession with cookbooks. i have three shelves full of them. i have restrained myself from purchasing them lately but my mother-in-law feeds my habit at birthdays and christmases. :)