I heart raw fish!

Tonight's dinner seems like an episode of Connections. We start with my weekly delivery of fresh, locally-grown produce (and meat, dairy, gluten-free bread products) from Greenling. Oh, how I love the adventure of cooking whatever Mother Nature has seen fit to provide! This week included yet another massive bunch of cilantro. I know cilantro can be a very hot topic. But I am in the "love it" camp for this particular herb, so I like getting these big bunches. What I don't like is the guilt I feel when most of a bunch goes wilty (or worse yet, gooey) due to me not getting around to using it. I hate it when that happens with any of the lovely produce the farmers worked so hard to grow. Cilantro is very moody and can be hard to keep fresh for more than a few days. So, I resolved to make salsa. I googled around, but wasn't inspired, so I reached for my trusty Mexican Everyday cookbook, by Rick Bayless (if you're going to cook Mexican, get a Rick Bayless book!) I love this cookbook... for it's simplicity, ease of use, friendly voice, and especially for the amazingly sound advice for life in general that he gives in the introduction. Truly awesome. So, I was going to use his Chunky Fresh Salsa recipe, but I failed to pay attention and make a good list before going to the grocery store. I had no green onions. Would a regular onion work? And would it be too spicy for me? The older I get, the more of a gringa I become. That's when I remembered my Gringo's Guide cookbook... with handy flame ratings for each recipe. So, I flipped through and none of the recipes were quite right. I liked the sound of one that included cucumber, which I just happened to have (I know, I know, not seasonal at all!) But the book said it was best with seafood... and I was planning Grillades and Grits for dinner. Although my foot has been hurting from a freak soccer-with-4-year-old accident, so I really wasn't in the mood for an involved dinner. Last night I made a double batch of very-involved ragu, which fed us and the freezer quite nicely, but... left me rather TIRED. And casting evil glances at my kitchen in general. I've had enough chopping, stirring, and endless cleaning-up for a few days. And I love cooking, so that's saying something.

Ok. What can I thaw quickly (not using the microwave) that would maybe somehow go well with the salsa that I felt forced into making?

Fish. Specifically, halibut pieces from Vital Choice. Tasty for fish tacos, but my kids don't like fish... and I have a LOT of citrus on hand right now, thanks to Greenling... how about ceviche? I can make rice (with chicken broth to boost the nutrition) and we can either put our fishy goodness (plus some extra salsa) over rice, or maybe scoop it up with nacho chips (it's not as crazy as it might sound... the very popular Elise recommends it here.) And we can munch on chips and my fresh, homemade salsa while the ceviche... ceviches.

So, yeah... tonight's lovely and delicious dinner was brought to me by the letter C, for cilantro, and the number... bunch. Oh, come on, bunch is a number! And we'll be having those grillades and grits for Mardi Gras... hope to post about it!