Herbalicious...

My freezer is well stocked right now. There are talapia and orange roughy fillets, chicken breasts and shrimp. Hopefully enough to make a variety of dinners without having to run to the store everyday. I'll take something out of the freezer in the early morning and it will thaw out in the sink by mid-afternoon.

A lot of the seafood you find in the store starts out frozen anyways. Of course buy fresh when you can, there are often great deals. But it can get really expensive when you eat fish often like we do.

I took out three orange roughy fillets this morning. I wasn't sure how I was going to prepare them so I peeked in the fridge to see if anything had to be used up immediately.

My herb keeper was getting a little sad looking. This herb keeper extends the lifespan of the herbs considerably but everything had been in there for way too long. The green onions were wilting, half of the parsley was turning yellow and there were a couple of stray thyme sprigs tangled in the parsley. So I thought it was a great way to dress up the fish and say "so long" to the herbs.

It turned out so much better than I thought it would. The herbs became so fragrant when cooked in the butter and the lemon cut the richness. Another go-to fish dish!
 

Lemon and Herb Orange Roughy

• 3-4  boneless/skinless orange roughy fillets (talapia, halibut, any firm white fish would work)
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• salted butter
• olive oil
• 2-3 green onions, sliced thin
• a handful of flat leaf parsley, minced
• leaves from a couple sprigs of fresh thyme
• juice of a lemon

Heat up a large pan over medium-high heat.

Rinse and dry your fish with paper towels. Generously salt and pepper the prettier side of the fillets.

When pan is very hot, add one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of salted butter. Let the butter melt and sizzle. Place your fish prettier sides down into the pan and (one piece of fish was thicker than the other two so I started cooking it 30 seconds sooner) sear them for about 2 1/2 minutes the first side and then 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on the other. They're done when firm to the touch. Do not overcook.

Remove the fillets and plate. Add one more tablespoon of salted butter to the pan. Add the green onions and saute for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, add your parsley and thyme and cook for 30 seconds more.

Add your lemon juice (make sure there are no seeds) and stir into the herbs to make a sauce. Spoon the sauce onto your fish, you'll want to do this quickly or the hot pan will evaporate all of the lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Broccoli in a jiff...

A quick and easy way to steam broccoli is in the microwave. Cut the florets off of a large head of broccoli and rinse them clean.

Place them in a microwave safe dish, add a couple tablespoons of water, cover and cook on high for about 5 minutes. Throw them back in for a couple more minutes if they are not cooked enough to your liking.

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