Happy New Year!

Ok. I get it. It's not yet 2008. Technically, I'm two days early. But I'm a little bit OCD, and I have trouble starting New Year's Resolutions in the middle of the week. So, today I went back on Weight Watchers. Today, I cleaned the kitchen and went grocery shopping. And today, I'm posting in this here blog. The holidays were certainly fun, but I'm ready to get back to the real world and live better.

Among my resolutions this year is cooking at least 4 nights a week. (Living in Brooklyn makes it really tempting to not EVER cook.) And while I was in Michigan over the break, my sister M, who has a FABULOUS food blog here, kept telling me that I should start writing in my blog more and I should do food too! So, ok. I figure this will help me stay on track with the cooking and the weight loss.

So, without further ado.... the fish.



I'll admit it. I'm not really a fish person. The Tummy, however, really is. He can't get enough of it. The man loves his seafood and actually complains if we don't regularly have fish.


Now, a small aside before we get to the recipe: when I was growing up, I HATED fish. Part of this, it must be admitted, was because my mother seriously messes up cooking fish. I don't intend any disrespect here. There are lots of other things she makes quite well, but she does much better with things that take longer to cook. So fish was just not her thing. I am constantly suprised by fish recipes that are edible. I don't even expect them to be yummy.


That being said, HOLY COW WAS THIS YUMMY! It is Fish with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Feta and Black Olives. And it comes from, get this, my 500 Best Healthy Recipes cookbook! It is a New Year's Eve Eve MIRACLE! A healthy, yummy fish recipe! And not even that tricky to throw together. It's got some stuff in it that I don't always keep in the cupboard, but it's so good, I may have to start. I served the fish with a half cup of basmati rice, steamed asparagus and salad. This got an "MMMMM" and "Is there any more?" from the Tummy. I used Tilapia, but I think you could use cheaper fish and it would still be good. With the tilapia, it was delicious. The whole plate (including rice) is only 6 points on WW. The fish is only 4.

Fish with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Feta and Black Olives

1.5 lbs fish fillets
1 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp chopped black olives

Sauce
1/4 cup well-packed, chopped sun-dried tomatoes *
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup chicken stock


1. Sauce: Put tomatoes, basil, oil, Parmesan, pine nuts and garlic in food processor. Process until finely chopped. Then, with the machine running, gradually add the stock until the mixture is smooth.


2. Put fish in single layer in greased baking dish. Spread the sauce over the fish. Sprinkle with feta and chopped olives. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes per inch.


* Use dry sun-dried tomatoes. Soak them in boiling water about 15 minutes before chopping.

Great Movie!

I went to the movies today. One of the coolest parts of my job is when I get to go to free stuff that I want to go to but wouldn't spend the money on because I chaperone. I've seen shows at Lincoln Center through this great program Open Stages and museums like the Intrepid and an exhibit on slavery at the New York Historical Society, but I think I like the movies best. We saw Hotel Rwanda when it came out and today we went and saw Kite Runner. Now, I know that most people would not consider going on a subway with fifty 15-17 year-olds to the movies fun, but it is.

The cool thing about it is that we take them to movies they wouldn't see. They're subtitled. They have human rights themes. They're long. But my students get movies. When we take them to see plays, it's different. Movies are what they're used to. And it's really cool to take them somewhere that they like to go, like the movies and show them ideas that they're not used to. And they were totally into it today. We laughed, we cried, we ate popcorn. And my students cheered when the main character stood up to his father-in-law about the class system in Afghanistan. And they're ready to go back to school tomorrow and learn more and read more and do more.

I love it when they get stuff.

To Begin with...

I'm gonna do it. I'm going to actually start blogging. I don't know if I've just gotten carried away with admiration for my big sister's fabulous food blog (Shazam in the Kitchen) or because my procrastination has reached new levels, but here I go...

I had an amazing group of kids suprise the heck out of me today. I coach a police athletic league team of 12 - 16 year old girls. It's a learning league, so it's filled with girls who are not on their school basketball teams. We practice and play a game once a week. There are ten girls on the team and everybody gets equal playing time and it's fun. My team wears gold uniforms so we call ourselves THE SHOCK (like Detroit's WNBA team).So I only had six girls show up today. Then my center fouled out in the third quarter and all the others had to play the rest of the game with no subs. They played their butts off. They were smart and aggressive and hustled their little patooties up and down the court. The game went into overtime and we WON!
16-15. It was so cool.

I was going to post this new recipe I tried, but it just wasn't that good, so instead, I figure I'll recommend this book I just finished. It's non-fiction, which is unusual for me, but really interesting and a pretty quick read. It's called Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance, by Atul Gawande. I learned a bunch about eradicating polio and cystic fibrosis.

Three more teaching days until Thanksgiving break! Must go grade.