Friends & Recipes

BROCCOLI SALAD WITH SESAME DRESSING

I'm always looking for interesting ways of consuming my least favorite veggie: broccoli. Never ate it (and most every other veg) my whole life, but in recent years, I'm finally coming around to the fact that it's good enough for me to suck it up and get creative enough to tolerate it. Thanks to Dawn Goddard for sharing this one that's easy to make, and fun to eat as a snack or a side dish...

1. Steam one large bunch of trimmed, coarsely chopped broccoli over simmering water, 8-9 minutes, until just crisp-tender


2. Plunge in cold water and drain


3. Toast 1 tbsp. (or more) sesame seeds (toaster oven is the easiest); set aside


4. Season broccoli with S & P


5. Combine 2 tbsp. sesame oil, 1/4 cup salad oil, 3 tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, & 1/2 tsp. sugar; whisk together until blended.


6. Pour over broccoli and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

(Here's another super-simple way to serve broccoli without the YECH factor... season with salt and roast it in the oven. For some unknown reason, I never thought of this until our friends Curt & Michelle served it that way...)

TERRIFIC TILAPIA

Jill and I were first introduced to tilapia years ago at a party thrown by our friends, Pete & Deb Kilcullen. Deb's relatively rustic approach to prepping this moist, mild fish is like Geico (so easy even a caveman can do it!)...

(you may also note there's broccoli in this dish, too -- I'm evolving!)

1. Toss tilapia filets in flour and bread crumbs.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet; add broccoli florets, sun-dried tomatoes, & drained artichoke hearts.
3. Add lemon juice, white wine, & garlic as veggies brown and pan dries up.
4. Remove veggies, and place tilapia in pan; cook 3 minutes/side, adding juice, wine, & garlic again.
5. You can either pile all the veggies back in the pan and serve, or plate each separately.

I have a lot more recipes to go...but for some reason I have a sweet tooth, so my next posting will give you a trio of my favorite desserts: 2 of them you'll go bananas over...and third is new twist on an all-time kid classic!

Also on my blog "to-do" list: pasta dishes, beef, salmon, and my top "rip-out recipes" from magazines...