For those of you who are over, let’s say 35, do you remember way back in the 80’s when one of the most popular appetizers in just about every hip eatery was Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini?

Those were the days, weren’t they?

Magical Days.

Wonderfully magical, I tell you!

Every weekend at happy hour, we’d waltz into Lunt Avenue Marble Club and eat a huge platter of those crunchy delights. Dipping them into a creamy white dipping sauce …  and not gain a pound!

And at that heavenly happy hour, you could order 2 for 1 cocktail for three bucks and the waitress would deliver both drinks to your table at the same time. Sometimes you’d order your second round before you finished your first, and you’d have four drinks sitting in front of you. At the same time!

Honestly, kids, that is not a dream! It used to happen.

The part about not gaining a pound is true too. It may have had a little tiny bit to do with my 20-something metabolism … I miss those days.

I miss Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini.

I really miss my metabolism!

I miss it all so much that I tried to bring it back for a remix.

These days, just looking at a platter of Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini would cause me to instantly gain 10, maybe 20 pounds. So, I gave the zucchini a “makeover” – just to see if I could recapture at least a little slice of the glory days.

As far as makeovers go – this was a major fail! As far as your basic low-cal, low-fat, low-cholesterol makeover – it was fine.

These zucchini rounds are NOTHING like the glory days of zucchini, but they are an OK side dish. With that ringing endorsement, I’m sure you’re going to want to run into the kitchen and whip up a batch or two.

I miss the Magical Days!

I used diet cheese puffs for the yellow zucchini and diet honey mustard pretzels for the green zucchini. The cheese puff zucchini was disgusting! I’m only mentioning it because it is shown in the photos. Otherwise, I would prefer to forget it completely!

The pretzel variety was tasty … as tasty as diet-baked zucchini can be when you are really wishing you were at Lunt Avenue with four cocktails in front of you.

For those of you who still own a 20-something metabolism or are willing to throw caution to the wind… the original recipe for LAMC Deep-Fried Mushrooms and Zucchini is at the end of the post. If you make it, do not let me know. It will only serve to make me feel sad.

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Thank you again for your kindness on Thursday! I will tell you some of the really wonderful things that I learned and experienced on the difficult trip… but I’m going to save that for tomorrow. I promised to get back to you with a recipe today and a recipe is what you shall have!

When I go to Costco, which you already know is quite often, I always go down the fresh fish aisle. Every now and then I spot whole fish, and although I’ve been tempted before, I’ve always passed them by for the fillets or shellfish. Not this time! I spotted packages of lovely pink snapper and decided to stop being lazy and just go for it.

Whole fish is not as convenient as fillets but I enjoyed the experience of grilling them. Not only did laziness hold me back before, but also Dave really dislikes finding bones in his fish. I’ve never really minded that because I remember my childhood camping days when we’d eat the fish the rest of the family caught.

I say “the rest of the family” because I have never caught a fish in my Life, even though I always threw out the hook and line with the rest of the family… Go Figure!  AND, how about that awesome photo of us camping! Doesn’t everyone look so happy?!

Left to right; Andy, Dad, Sloane, Mom, and me. My old brother, Dennis, must have been taking the picture.  Andy looks sad. My dad has a bit of a smirk. Sloane looks confused. And my mom looks seriously ticked off. Then there is smiling Linda, looking like she has a secret! I can’t imagine why else I would be smiling. I HATED camping. Did then, still do! Yeah, I must have had the goods on one of my siblings or been up to something, otherwise, I would have had a major pout on my face.

In this photo, my chic five year-old-self poses instead of fishing. My brother, Dennis, is to the right of me on the rocks in the stream. I have no idea who the two older boys in the photo are. But my tied-up shirt and shorts are super styling, I’d bet anything that the entire ensemble was pink.

The attitude and body language I am throwing off here are more in line with my feelings about camping. I can tell you exactly how I felt about being there – dread and despair! I’m guessing that I was 12 or 13 years old. This photo was taken at Hawley Lake, near the town of Pinetop in Arizona’s White Mountains. At least Andy looks super excited and happy to be there! Dennis looks desperate to be anywhere else in the world. Sloane’s rocking a fabulous shag haircut. Although, I really can’t make fun of Sloane’s hair when you look at the mop on my head. Oh, those were the days.

Anyhow, I remember that our parents would give us a penny for every fish bone we found while we carefully chewed our fish. We loved it and made a game and contest out of eating fish.

I, of course, would cheat, as I’m prone to do, and bite the bones I found in half when no one was looking, and usually, I would win! If you know how competitive I am, you’d think nothing of this. Not at all surprising!

We thought our parents were being fun, but it was actually to keep us from choking on fish bones. Smart parenting!

Back to Dave – I went through his serving with a fine-tooth comb, so he didn’t have to worry about any bones. Plus, I didn’t want to owe him any pennies. Although, you’ll notice that his plate doesn’t look as pretty as my nearly perfect fillet, pictured below.

You may cook the fish directly on the grill grates or use a grilling basket, as I did.

The grilling basket I have has a wooden handle, which is nice since it doesn’t get hot, but you have to be sure the wood portion is sticking out from the grill, to prevent it from burning.

When I shut the lid, it lifts the basket off the grates, so I stick a metal basket there to hold the lid up a little bit.

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Traditional Puttanesca sauce is made with chopped garlic and anchovies that are sautéed in olive oil. Chopped chili peppers, olives, capers, canned tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano are added along with salt and black pepper to taste. It is simmered for at least 30 to 40 minutes.

My lighter fresher version is anchovy and olive oil-free and uses fresh chopped tomatoes that are cooked briefly and tofu Shirataki noodles with zero calories and only 3 carbs per serving. The dish comes together in 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your chopping skills and speed.

I began making it at 5:45 and had it on the dinner plates by 6:00… taking the photos took another couple of minutes… as always!

One last note, I forgot to add the olives. And, darn it, they were missed! I’ve added them to the recipe, so don’t forget them.

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I’m working on my Easter buffet and tablescape today.

Here is how I’ll be displaying/arranging my crudites this year.

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I love everything about ahi tuna. It is delicious. It is so easy to make. It is quick. It is perfect in every way… well except the price, it is kinda pricey… but it’s worth it!

Oh yeah, and it’s healthy too. Ahi or yellowfin tuna is low in saturated fat and sodium. It is a very good source of protein, thiamin, niacin, and vitamin B6. It is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.

If only it was less expensive, I’d most likely eat it at least once a week. I looked back through the “Complete Recipe Index” over there on the left, and I already have seven recipes for ahi tuna … this makes number eight, and I’m certain it won’t be the last. Of the previous seven, there have been ahi sliders, appetizer bites, salad, tacos, and more.

This time around I’m marinating the tuna in a mixture of pineapple juice, garlic, and soy sauce. Don’t marinate for much more than three hours or the pineapple juice will begin to break down the tuna.

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It’s easy and healthy to make your own sausage at home. Begin with lean ground turkey and you’re halfway there. You’ll yield about a dozen sausage patties with this recipe, and you only need 4 for the salad. Save the rest for another couple of meals… maybe to accompany your eggs the next morning.

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These chicken thighs may be “skinny” but they are juicy and packed with flavor. The thanks go to a slow cooker and a few sugar-free Walden Farms products.

Of course, if you don’t have the sugar-free stuff; regular ketchup, barbecue sauce, and syrup or honey may be used instead, although your thighs will be “fatter” than these “skinny” ones.

I buy the boneless skinless chicken thighs at Costco. They come in a 6-pack, each pack contains five thighs. I used three packs, 15 thighs, for this recipe and put the remaining three packs in the freezer.

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I had planned to tell you about my weekend but I haven’t had time to get the photos put together. Instead, how about another recipe for our new “skinny” category today?

Skinny Greek Salad

Roasted Grape Tomatoes
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Pam non-stick cooking spray
1 teaspoon Greek seasoning, divided
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oil-Free Greek Dressing
Juice from roasting tomatoes (from above)
Zest from 1 small lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Chicken
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salad
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup pitted and sliced Kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons thinly sliced and chopped red onion
1 head Romaine lettuce; torn into bite-size pieces, washed and spun dry

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When I have the time, I like to salt my beef and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking. If I have even more time (and remember – that’s really the hard part – remembering!) I prefer to salt it overnight.

You may have heard or been taught to not salt beef until just before cooking. That can be true too.  I know, it’s so contradictory and confusing. Instead of trying to explain it myself, I am going to direct you to THIS ARTICLE, which explains the science of it perfectly, and also tells you what NOT to do when salting beef.

This is good information, don’t be lazy, be sure to check it out!

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I’m using three different cooking methods to make a simple salad. This will infuse as much flavor as possible into each ingredient without adding fat. This is achieved by;

• Roasting cherry tomatoes
• Poaching chicken breast
• Blanching asparagus

As an added bonus, the poaching/blanching broth may be saved and added to soup on another day.

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