My Favorite Fish: Flounder

Posted on March 18, 2011 by kzookitchen

Flounder served with potatoes

Since becoming a pescitarian, I have tried nearly every fish out there. Quite surprisingly Flounder has become a favorite. It’s light flaky texture and mild taste.

This recipe is fast, easy and delicious. The picture does not do it justice.

Flavorful Flounder

Ingredients

4 flounder fillets
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 cup chopped red onions
1/4 teaspoon dill
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Season flounder fillets with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet or baking dish lined with foil for easy clean up.
Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on size of fillet. You will know they are done when they look firm.
While the fish is in the oven, combine Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, onions and dill.
When fillet are done, remove from over and preheat broiler.
Cover fillets with Parmesan mixture and place under the broiler.
Watch carefully! It generally takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes for Parmesan mixture to brown and bubble.
Remove from the broiler and caution – the topping WILL BE HOT!

Busy Little Knitting Bee!

Posted on March 16, 2011 by KzooKitchen

I’ve been knitting my heart out lately – inspired by Spring and the new possibilities of garments and accessories that can actually be cute and not just warm.

Here is my latest creation -

Called wrist warmers, texting gloves, fingerless gloves, etc, etc, etc…

These are super cute and ready for spring in a bright lime green.

Love them as much as I do?

I am selling them on etsy!

Purchase them here

Or, email me and I will make them in your favorite Spring color.

I love them.

Did I mention that I love them?

I hope that you love them too!

Forging through winter as a Vegetarian

Posted on March 9, 2011 by kzookitchen

When you walk into the grocery store and see something as beautiful as this, how can you not be a vegetarian? Admittedly it’s not always this easy (or pretty), to have vegetables be the mainstay of your diet, especially this time of year.

A friend of mine who lives in a more remote part of Michigan (in a town I can barely pronounce – Dowagiac (də-WAH-jak)) decided that she was going to give up meat for Lent. I know how hard it is for me to find fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year in Kalamazoo, so I can only imagine what it’s going to be like for her. After encouraging her to make the changes in her diet, I knew that I wanted to find some healthy vegetarian recipes using frozen veggies. So I will develop and post some ideas over the next few days and weeks which are made with ingredients which can truly be found anywhere.

In the meantime, I am often surprised that no matter where I go there are meatless options. The tastiest bites have been at ethnic restaurants. A few weeks ago we hit up a Gyros shop in Grand Rapids. Expecting to be eating another salad (which is fine and I love), I found this amazing plate on the menu. Salad, hummus, dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables) and falafel – it was an amazing fare!

Even in Kalamazoo it’s easy to find great options when eating out. The University Roadhouse has an amazing Seared Ahi Salad (pictured left). It is pan seared blackened Ahi Tuna, mixed greens in a thai peanut vinaigrette served with a warm bleu cheese wonton. Talk about delicious! I am definitely going to use this as inspiration for a salad soon. My mouth is still watering for that blue cheese wonton.

While not eating meat in the dead of winter in the middle of the Midwest isn’t easy, I have learned to work around it. I am confident that my friend Erin and all of you meatless eaters out there will do the same.