Caving in to Cooking Light

Enough with the leftovers.

Running short on the culinary energy that might save me from A) ordering out or B) scrambled eggs, again, I finally caved to the call of Cooking Light and bought $4.99 worth of inspiration in the form of food porn photos and accompanying recipes. It’s totally paid off.

First I indulged myself and went through the entire magazine, marking every recipe that looked appealing. It was an exercise in compulsive imaginings. The stilton burger? I wasn’t even in a red meat mood until I saw those juicy onions dripping off a cap of lusciously stinky cheese under the bun. So I put it on my list of recipes to try. Along with chocolate hazelnut bark – a chip of sheer, dark indulgence with a recipe that sounded ultra simple, plus it’s conveniently listed under “healthy snacks.” The list of recipes turned into a menu for the week: no longer will I root around in the frig, hungry and irritable because I didn't plan ahead. Well, at least for this week.

Last night I went for the halibut with basil butter, but substituted bluefish, the cheapest fish in the case at Whole Foods (someone give me an alternative to this high-priced fish monger, the product is great, but $8.99 a pound for bluefish?!?).

The dish was fabulous. And simple. The butter is what made this meal: it’s combined with (in my case) homemade pesto leftover from a batch I made the other night, and spiked with lemon rind and shallot, all mushed together and placed on top of the cooked-to-flakiness fish, where it melts into all the little crevices. I paired this with the full-page-photo-illustrated recipe for green beans and potatoes – another awesome dish, simple to make but complex in flavor, just this side of a spicy curry with mustard seeds and cumin and coriander and something called a New Mexican chili for which I substituted chili powder.

Can’t wait for the leftovers for lunch today.