What's for Dinner? Whole Fish in a Salt shell



Easy Meal 

"..I feel like whole fish for dinner, but I don't feel like cooking or doing anything to the fish... oh man, we should just go out..." Does this sound familiar? Does cooking whole fish sound too challenging? Well, we have news for you! This is actually how we started our week craving a nice whole fish (like we had in Jaffa, Israel by the sea) and we did not feel like spending a huge amount of time on it. We decided on a simple technique that resulted in a great meal.

All you need is a fresh fish or two, depending on your hunger level (or how big your eyes are..), sea salt - one pound for every pound of fish and egg white (I used an egg substitute and it worked fine). make a mixture from salt and egg white, place  1/3 in a baking pan, place the fish in center, if you have more then one fish you should create good spacing between them, than cover the fish with the rest of salt mixture and bake at 420 F for 25 min for a 2-3 lb fish. If you have a large dinner party a bigger fish would do the trick, just remember to think in advance if you have that much salt and a good size baking pan. Remember a bigger fish would require a longer time, a general role would be to add ~ 10 min for every pound. For example a 5 lb fish would require 45 -50 min in the oven.
After the oven let the fish rest for about 5 min, than use a knife to break the crust. The fish will be moist, creamy and just absolutely wonderful! Enjoy and watch for bones.

 

Break the hard salt shell and dig in while it's hot!

 

We selected Brazini (AKA European Seabass) and had it descaled and gutted at the market.If you are into sustainability then you should review the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch when shopping for fish or selecting fish in a restaurant. They even have an app for a smart phone. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx?c=ln. We got the Brazini at Whole Foods which does well by another guide or better described as a scorecard http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/oceans/seafood/. Whole Foods does ok forget about Trader Joes.

Leave you with these beautiful flowers we enjoy around the house.
Happy Purim and have a great rest of your weekend, Bob and Yifat.

Travel, travel, travel

Tel Aviv Beach

I think that all those that travel somewhat frequently know that it can be challenging to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen. You are knocked out of your routine, your normal surroundings and your normal schedule. Add jet lag and visiting relatives to the mix for those further travel destinations and it is a recipe for a serious setback for your goals. We travel a lot (a title that was in the running for the blog was "14 months on companion pass") so a few tips we follow...... 

• Include food as a carry-on - nuts, fruits and dark chocolate are our favorites
• Drink lots of Water
• Set a goal to exercise while on travel..... and plan for it and if you don't do a good job planning- take a walk once a day, use the steps and keep on moving
• As for Jet Lag - exercise, hydrate, be disciplined about staying in bed when your body wants to get up and we take Melatonin supplements (in a all natural sleeping aid) it really works! I got this tip from a long distance traveling pro.

We spent some time thinking about the Blog and what we are writing about these last few weeks. In the end we are excited about sharing things from our life that we find interesting about living in the moment and being happy. For us eating healthy and staying active is a life style, not a diet, and is important for our happiness, simple as that. Don’t get me wrong- we love good food, a nice drink and to travel, more often than not it is the company at the seat next to you rather than the destination that makes all the difference and this is what we write about.

We sampled a lot of Israeli cuisine which I would describe as a potpourri of the Middle East, Europe and America with a good bit of all fusion. What about Thai ribs with curry coconut vegetables?

 

A classic Tel Aviv meal looks like this- we were treated to this by friends of ours on a Saturday Brunch looking out over Tel Aviv, a city close to our hearts and stomach.

 

Tel Aviv Brunch with Friends - Gorgeous table!

Tahini is ubiquitous in Israel, it is as Ranch Dressing seems to be in the US. When we got back our first meal was eggplant with Tahini. We realized we were out of Tahini paste after the eggplant was in the oven, no problem - I knew of a bag of sesame seeds hiding in the pantry and so we made our own paste (pretty much toasting and grinding here is the recipe) after tasting and congratulating ourselves we continued on to make Tahini dressing. The difference being converting the "peanut butter" like paste to a smooth flowing dressing with water, lemon, garlic and salt. Just remember that there are as many ways to make it as there are home cooks in the Middle East. Also I was a little lazy and jet lagged and I don't have a good yield on this recipe which means I don't have a good serving size so if you try it or have better information, please share. An interesting website that has another version plus a lot of cool facts is http://mideats.com/. I gathered a lot of tips and recipes about making Tahini sauce from those who make it often. They include making humus and tahini together and using the water that the chickpeas were cooked in to add to the Tahini, using parsley, using cilantro etc. Sesame has one of the highest oil contents of any seed and is made of Omega-6 fatty acids.

We will end this post with some pictures from meals we had while in Israel for your enjoyment.
Kiss your Valentine’s and have a happy healthy weekend!
Bob and Yifat 

Hummus plate for breakfast with tahini and egg! yummy

Two of my favorite salads: Root salad and "Israeli" salad - tomatoes and cucumbers chopped finely.



Breakfest Feast
 

Home made Salmon and Couscous salad!

On the other side of our planet

Not quite, since China is on the other side, but we are far from Reno for that matter any way!

We had a busy couple of days (weeks) and finally had a moment to catch up and write about things that are worth sharing.

 

Zen Breakfast - The Mission

We started our trip in San Diego where it is always sunny (except the two days we were there when it rained all the time, no complaints here, the company was fantastic and compensated for the lack of good weather).
We were in San Diego to watch Bob's niece compete at a gymnastic meet over the weekend and we were so impressed! Way to go Ali!! During this family vacation time we ate out a bunch and we have two restaurants that we are so happy to share with our family we are happy to share here, on the blog: The Mission and True Food.

The first is a breakfast place - which we all know is the most important meal of the day! It was Maimonides (Rambam) or sometimes Adelle Davis is given credit for saying: "At breakfast eat as a King, Lunch as a Prince and Dinner as a Pauper". I also know that in order to lose weight a small dinner well before bed time can work it's magic. It is both intuitive and supported by growing body of evidence. Your body is more prone to burn fat at certain times of day and store fat at other times," said Satchin Panda, associate professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.
For a big breakfast we chose The Mission with 3 locations in San Diego and it was a great choice, The 8 of us got a table and ordered a good variety of food - from big fluffy pancakes to Mexican items, smoothies and rosemary potato everything is fresh and made in house! On their menu you can find healthy and healthier items such as the Zen breakfast - Scrambled egg whites, braised tofu, brown rice, grilled zucchini & squash with tomato & onion garnish, and their own toasted granola & fresh fruit - a house made grain cereal with almonds, raisins, honey and an assortment of seasonal fresh fruit and berries you can add plain low fat yogurt if you like.



True Kitchen - Drinks getting as much attention as the food!

The second restaurants called True Food Kitchen - The brain child of Dr. Andrew Weil. From the website: The basis for Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet isn’t meant to deprive a healthy body of great flavors, it’s meant to take popular trends in cuisine and pair them with healthy living. Try the kale and quinoa, you’ll live longer. Drink the seabuckthorn and acai, you’ll feel better. At True Food Kitchen, we want you to feel better, live longer, and make your mouth happy in the process. 

And the food doesn't lie. We ended up in here late at night as a second choice for the crowd we were with (I counted 11), the menu raised some eyebrows and lots of questions. Check out the menu here for some ideas http://www.foxrc.com/frcwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/True_Food_Kitchen_San_Diego_Dinner_Menu4.pdf. When the food came,  beautifully prepared, after some tasting the smiles started to appear on everyone's face.  It was a good meal. hopefully one that will create an appetite for new food - for true food.

Speaking of Kale and Quinoa- we have it for breakfast often, it is simple: cook the quinoa with chopped tomatoes, chopped Kale and whatever else sounds good and in your fridge. A bowl of this goes is a great healthy start to the day.

The reactions around the table at True Food reminded me about an interesting study I read recently. It was released earlier this in month in Science. To get a copy from the Journal it costs $20. I found it online at http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dtg/Quoidbach%20et%20al%202013.pdf... for free. The title is “End of History Illusion”. A good summary of the Science study can be found at the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/science/study-in-science-shows-end-of-history-illusion.html?smid=pl-share. The basic premise is that we, humans, consistently discount the amount our personalities, habits and likes/dislikes will change in the future, hence the clever title. At the most basic level I think we find this instinctually correct. Grow older get wiser summed up eloquently by Emerson --“The years teach much which the days never knew”. It strikes me that another way to state the study’s findings is that people tend to think that their current personal development, wisdom, philosophy and view of the world cannot be improved upon or simply change. This knowledge gives me some comfort when thinking about the intransigence you come across in people as well as reminding me that my opinions may and likely will change moving forward in time. Heck, only a short time ago I couldn't have imagined that I would be focused on a whole food plant based diet. or publish a blog in such matter.