Baked Orange Roughy with a Parmesan Sauce Topping

I knew I wanted to make fish, but I wasn't sure what kind. I took the cookbook with me to the grocery store so I could compare fresh-fish availability to recipes...

I came up with Orange Roughy baked with a Parmesan Sauce Topping. Yum yum!

The Parmesan sauce topping was merely light mayo, Worcestershire sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, and some salt & pepper. I coated the fillets with that and baked them until the fish was cooked through.

In the meantime, I made a fresh slaw mix with a light dressing (light mayo, lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper).

It was delicious! The Parmesan sauce topping was a huge hit, and the slaw was a nice side.

We will be having this again!

Mediterranean Pasta with Shrimp

So, I forgot to bring my cookbook with me to work on Wednesday...I decided instead to look up some recipes on diabetes.org.

I found Mediterranean Pasta with Shrimp - whole wheat egg noodles, ready-to-use shrimp, thawed chopped spinach, fat-free yogurt, feta cheese, garlic, salt & pepper. Really simple.

I also made a Greek side salad of diced cucumber, diced tomatoes, diced onion, diced bell pepper, grated garlic, yogurt, olive oil, salt & pepper.

Well, this was the first bust. I loved the salad. JR liked the pasta...

It seems the Andersons don't do Greek...

They can't all be winners!

Chicken Paella

After the success of the first meal on Sunday night prepared from the diabetic cookbook, I went through every recipe with my husband so we could determine which things we would definitely like, which things we would try, and which things we should not even think about (like anything with only vegetables in it - he won't eat that).

Monday, I picked out the next recipe to try: Chicken Paella. Proudly I can tell you that I only needed two ingredients from the store - a can of stewed tomatoes and a red bell pepper. The paella was simple - one skillet, chicken breast cut into strips and browned, onion, garlic, low-sodium chicken broth, parsley, rice, stewed tomatoes, bell pepper, frozen peas & carrots, seasonings (including turmeric). It was ready in about 30 minutes.

JR loved it! I loved it! Another win for the recipes!

Salmon in a Garlic Bath

My first try at creating a diabetic-friendly meal came directly from the diabetes cookbook I've been using (credit and picture to come). It sounded so delicious, so we tried it.

Salmon fillets in a baking dish with a "bath" of low-sodium chicken broth, olive oil, minced garlic, dry white wine, and coarsely chopped fresh parsley - baked till the fish is flaky. I positioned the fillets in the baking dish so that they formed a circle with each other.

I made brown rice, peas & carrots, and grilled shrimp skewers as sides.

I plated the meal: 1 fillet each, semi-circle shaped & positioned to match the outline of the plate; a big scoop of brown rice in the "pocket" of the fish; a big scoop of peas and carrots to complete the circle; two shrimp skewers each in an X pattern atop the other items.

Beautiful.

In my husband's best Gordon Ramsey impression, he gave his critique:

"Nice presentation. Tammy - look at this. The fish. It's cooked perfectly. On to the peas & carrots. A little pedestrian, but flavored well. The rice is overcooked. The seasoning on the shrimp is clean and simple. Delicious. Now bugger off."

For a first attempt at cooking a completely diabetic-friendly meal, I was impressed with myself. Whew!