A wonderful Wednesday supper...

It got pretty hot today...and humid as all get out. Apparently this was good weather for catching catfish though, as my son came by with 5 gorgeous catfish,. and left me 4 big beautiful fillets to cook for supper.   For the record, it's not always my favorite fish, but the stuff he pulls out of Beaver Dam State Park's lake is beautiful white meat, firm and clean...almost no fish smell at all.  Beautiful stuff, and he showed up just in time, before I had gotten anything out of the freezer.  lol

I decided to bake them, with a lemon pepper and herb mixture, a little butter drizzled over the top. Major yum. The herbs I used were just home grown oregano and basil. You could do anything you want.

I have a nice bunch of kale out in the cold box, along with some spinach, lettuces and chard.  I marched out there and cut a nice big bowl of kale, with visions of making a bruised kale salad.  This is a wonderful hot weather salad, easy to make,  and very satisfying. I chop or tear the kale leaves into chunks, put it in a big bowl, and pour about a quarter cup of olive oil on it, along with a little sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. I love kale.

 After you have the kale and extra virgin olive oil in the bowl, start massaging the leaves and working the olive oil into the leaves.  It takes about 5 minutes of massaging (or bruising) to get the oil worked in and you will feel the leaves begin to soften. They'll also turn a gorgeous dark vibrant green. Once you have the oil all worked in, juice about a half a lemon (taste after you put it all together--you might need more. lol  I used a whole big lemon tonight...the Irishman thought it was a little heavy on the lemon, I thought it was perfect.  I added the salt and pepper and lemon and mix well. You can add nuts (sliced almonds or pine nuts), dried cranberries, coconut chips (organic, unsweetened--so they actually taste like coconut!!) and / or  sunflower seeds.

It's a wonderful tasty salad so full of nutrition it'll curl your toes.  lol

  Then I made a rice dish that is an old friends stand by recipe from way back when.  Put about 3 tbsp. of olive oil in a big cast iron skillet.  Pour in 1 1/2 cups of uncooked brown rice. Over medium heat, saute the rice until it pops and gets all golden brown.  Then add some diced onions, celery and carrot. Small dice. Saute that a bit until it starts to cook, then add 3 cups of water, dried basil, salt and pepper to taste. Bring it to a boil, then turn heat to low and put a lid on it. It will take about an hour (45 minutes, maybe?) to cook. When it's done, you almost have a meal in itself. It's one of the Irishman's favorite ways I cook rice.  
  

...and there you have it.  A great Wednesday night supper.  Fish, Rice and kale salad. 




 Bon Apetit !