What "Spring" tastes like

Oh, I so wish I could take credit for this (insanely simple) dish... and I guess I could, but I don't want to risk the wrath of the Karmic Food Police.

 

My grandma, Karol, lived in Westport, Washington for about three or four years while I was growing up... something that, even while short in duration, I still look back on as one of the best memories of my childhood. Grandma had a good-sized garden plot in her backyard, somewhere between her barn-turned-house (really!) and the horse ring, that had everything from tomatoes to sugar snap peas and more... but, honestly, my brain kind of stalls out after the sugar snap peas. I remember sitting on the back steps with my sister and processing a giant bucket of the verdant, crisp bites of nature.

... peel, open, skim 'em out.
... peel, open, skim 'em out.

We would usually discard the pods, so I was more than welcome to help myself to what I considered the best part.

Here's a recipe from Simply Recipes that I absolutely recommend that you make. Tonight. Or now.

Seared Sugar Snap Peas Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

Almost all the prep time in this recipe is taking the strings off the sugar peas. Once you have that done, the rest is easy.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound sugar snap peas, strings removed
• 3-4 scallions or green onions, sliced on the diagonal
• Salt
• A pinch of sugar
• Zest of a lemon
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• Black pepper to taste
• Lemon juice to taste

Method

1 Heat a large sauté pan on high heat for 1 minute. Add the olive oil to the hot pan and heat it until it shimmers, about 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar peas and toss to coat with the oil. Sprinkle salt over them and toss again. Allow to cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute.
2 Add the green onions and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar. Toss to combine. Let cook for 1 minute. Toss and cook untouched again, this time leaving everything undisturbed for 2 minutes.
3 Turn off the heat, mix in the lemon zest and mint, then add black pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve at once.
Yield: Serves 4-6.

Krystal's "Screw you, winter!" dinner

The Reason:
Winter has reigned long enough. With spring starting tomorrow (THANKYOUSWEETLORDJESUS), and an abundance of produce from Full Circle Farm at my disposal, what better reason to throw together a new recipe?


The Menu:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Winter Must Die punch


The Ingredients and Directions:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Ingredients:
1/2 cup - apricot & pineapple preserves
1/2 cup - Johnny's "Jamaican Me Sweet Hot & Crazy" marinade (found at Costco)
1 1/2 cup - tropical fruit juice (I used a guava/pineapple/peach/passion fruit/banana blend)
1/2 cup - Yoshiba's Sweet Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup - soy sauce
3 tbsp - agave nectar
4 frozen tilapia loins, thawed (also found at Costco)
4 medium-sized carrots, chopped to 1'' pieces
1/2 of a large, Walla Wall onion, also in 1'' pieces
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 thin slices of lemon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. To make the marinade, combine first six ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Place tilapia, carrots, onions, and garlic in a large, Ziploc freezer bag, and pour marinade over them.
4. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Place tilapia in a 13x9''  baking dish, place one slice of lemon on each, and (using a slotted spoon), place marinated vegetables around the fish.
6. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, return to oven, and bake an additional 10 minutes until fish is flaky.

Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Ingredients:
2 boxes of Parmesan couscous (found at Safeway or other main grocery stores)
2 1/2 cups of broth (I used 2 cups of vegetable broth and 1/2 cup of chicken broth)
5 tbsp - butter, divided 2:3 (I used a Red Chile, Shallot and Lime compound butter that I had made)
1/2 of a large Walla Walla onion, diced fine
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp - lemon pepper
2 tbsp - salt
3 tbsp - agave nectar
Directions:
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions, using stock in place of water, and increasing the butter to 2 tbsp.
2. Saute the remaining ingredients in a medium, non-stick skillet until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the couscous, and stir to combine.

Winter Must Die punch
**I only made one glass, but it's amazing... so, multiply the ingredients by however many people you will be serving.**
Ingredients:
1/2 of one lemon, plus two slices
4 ice cubes
8 oz - tropical juice blend
8 oz - orange, pineapple, banana juice
Directions:
1. Place two ice cubes in the bottom of a tall glass, then the two slices of lemon, then the remaining two ice cubes.
2. Squeeze the 1/2 of one lemon into the glass, and add the rind to the glass as well.
3. Add the tropical fruit juice blend.
4. Add the orange/pineapple/banana juice.
5. Stir, add straw, sip, and shake your fist at winter.

Homemade Tartar Sauce... for frozen fish sticks.

An original recipe, this was born when I finally acknowledged that the frozen fish sticks and tater tots that I was making for dinner weren't my most original meal items.

Ingredients:

~ 1 1/2 cup Mayonnaise (use mayo, not "whipped dressing" or Miracle Whip)
~ 1/4 cup sweet relish
~ 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
~ 1 tablespoon soy sauce
~ 1 teaspoon each pepper, dill, and lemon pepper
~ 1/2 teaspoon finely minced/grated garlic

Directions:

Stir everything together. Store in the fridge for an hour before serving to let the flavor set. (I've used it immediately, and it's still AWESOME!)