Day One

I did good last night - I prepared a low carb/no carb meal for dinner. We had Sea Bass, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad and Asparagus with Proscuitto. The recipes (not really...just ingredients and instructions) are below:

4 Sea Bass Filets (about 4-6 oz each)
Olive Oil
Lemon and Herb Old Bay Seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Drizzle olive oil on a baking sheet and place the sea bass filets on the olive oil. With a fork, poke holes in the sea bass and sprinkle the Old Bay, salt and pepper over the fish (don't cover them with the seasoning, Sea Bass has a really good flavor and you don't want to overdo it). Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and put in the oven. Bake at 425 for about 25-30 minutes and then turn the broiler on low for 10 minutes. Sea Bass is a very oily fish. Go light on the olive oil you drizzle over the top and don't be alarmed if the fish doesn't flake after you've cooked it for 40 minutes. It's almost impossible to overcook Sea Bass. It's going to stay very tender. Be careful when transfering it from the baking sheet to the plate. It will fall apart. It WILL fall in the floor. And after you've spent all that money on the Sea Bass, you will find nothing wrong with picking it up off of the floor and eating it anyways. It's THAT good :)

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

3 Vine Ripe Tomatoes, sliced
1 Container of Sliced Mozzarella Cheese (or you can buy it whole and slice up as much as you want)
Salad Mix (I prefer Baby Red or Butter Lettuce Mix. Just don't get the garden salad mix...try something a little "fancier". A spinach mix is good, too)
Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper

Place a bunch of salad on a plate. Layer the mozzarella and tomato slices over the salad. Salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with olive oil. You can also use Balsamic Vinegar or Balsamic Vinagrette salad dressing instead of or with the olive oil.

Asparagus and Proscuitto

1 Bunch of Asparagus (however much you want, really)
Chopped Proscuitto (again...however much you want)
Olive Oil

If the proscuitto isn't chopped, chop it up into a fine dice. Brown the proscuitto over medium heat in a large saute pan. When it's brown, but not burnt (I'd still eat it!), add some olive oil (about 2 teaspoons depending on size and quantity of asparagus...you want to drizzle, not drown) and asparagus. Continue to saute the asparagus, oil and proscuitto over a medium to medium low heat until the asparagus is crisp tender. Salt and pepper to taste...however, proscuitto is very salty, so you're not going to need a lot of salt.

Serve with wine...unless you gave up wine for Lent. Then you have to drink water, or tea...or sparkling grape juice...whatever you like :)

Soooo....Tim Collier is not seeking re-election to the CASI Board. Thoughts???????

I read it in the Trails...available on CASI's website. No..I'm not some crystal ball reader and didn't have inside intel. It's widely available knowledge.

Have a good day. There was something chili related I was going to go off about today, but my short term memory failed me this morning. I may post again later today if I remember it!