I never intended to blog about this dinner.

It started innocently enough, with a few items I picked up at the farmer’s market over the weekend but shunned Saturday night in favor of going out to a fancy dinner. No shame.

By the time I did get around to these ingredients, I had to figure out what to do with them. So I pulled a genius move and cooked them all together on the stove. Good thing I went to culinary school!

Seriously, this dinner — a mishmash of corn, squash, shrimp and spicy sausage, paired with a watermelon, feta and heirloom tomato salad — turned out to be delicious. And it wasn’t due to low expectations; you know you’re going to end up with a fantastic meal when it starts with farm-fresh summer ingredients. A few takeaways:

• Use more paprika. The flavor is actually pretty mild, but it gives all my seafood and veggies a Cajun kick that I adore.
• Buy a watermelon. As my sister said recently, “Who knew there was so much watermelon in a watermelon?” It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and will continue all week.
• Start with pork. Oops, that was the Mississippian in me, not the Californian. But it makes everything taste amazing, and in small quantities like these, you needn’t worry about a heart attack.

Corn & Squash Mishmash with Shrimp

Ingredients (Serves 2 if very hungry after a long run, 3 if normal):

1 spicy sausage (Italian or Andouille)

3 ears corn, stripped from cob

1 large summer squash (zucchini, crookneck, or Gold Rush, as I used), cut into bite-size cubes or half-moons

2 tbsp. sweet paprika, divided

Salt and pepper

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup purslane leaves (or any microgreen, such as watercress)

1 tsp. olive oil, plus more if needed

Squeeze sausage out of casing into a large saute pan or Dutch oven. Cook until it begins to turn brown (about 5 minutes), then add corn, squash, 1 tablespoon paprika and salt and pepper to taste. If pan looks dry, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

Pat shrimp dry and rub with paprika to cover all sides, then season with salt and pepper. Once squash is tender, after 5 or 10 minutes, add shrimp and saute until pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Toss purslane leaves in olive oil. Serve shrimp and corn mixture immediately and top with purslane leaves.

Watermelon, Heirloom Tomato and Feta Salad with Basil

Ingredients (Serves 6):

1 small seedless watermelon

2 heirloom tomatoes (I used yellow), cut in a large 1/2-inch dice

5 oz. feta cheese

1/4 cup packed basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

3 tbsp. olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

Remove the rind from the watermelon and cut into 1-inch cubes. Combine watermelon cubes and tomato in a large bowl and crumble feta on top. Add basil strips and drizzle with vinegar and olive oil. Toss well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to combine.

Sometimes I wonder if it’s even fair to post recipes as simple as the one I’m sharing today. So let’s call this one a technique, shall we?

The sous-chef has become a true master of the grill this summer. His bison burgers are truly the Best I’ve Ever Had (hint: add minced garlic and LOTS of cumin), and he can deliver a balsamic-marinated portobella with perfect hatch marks. But the best dish he’s created yet is the one that made me appreciate grilled chicken again. (Thank goodness he put a ring on it, because I’ll be eating well forever.)

Poor chicken, always the protein afterthought — it’s thrown on a salad so we can call it a meal and paired with rich side dishes to mask its blandness. I thought I was over it completely, dismissing it in favor of flavorful vegetables and hearty red meat.

Oh, how I was mistaken.

What chicken needs to succeed is tons of seasoning. I’m no fan of marinating, because who has the time? The solution: smother the chicken in high-quality, whole grain mustard. Just trust me on this one — yes, the mustard bits will burn. And that will be delicious.

After talking to Chefs John Currence and Vishwesh Bhatt of Oxford, Mississippi’s City Grocery group recently inspired me to expand my vegetable grilling horizons, as well. They both swore whole okra took well to the hot flames, and they weren’t kidding; the okra was slime-free and bursting with pleasantly nutty flavor.

Grilled Mustard Chicken with Smoky Whole Okra

Ingredients (Serves 2):

For the chicken:

2 organic chicken breasts (between 3/4 and 1 pound total)

1 tsp. olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, minced (for best results make sure garlic is very fresh and mince finely)

3 heaping tbsp. whole grain mustard (we are partial to Maille Old Style)

2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)

Salt to taste

For the okra:

About 8 whole okra pods

Olive oil

1 tbsp. Spanish smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the chicken breasts well with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub thoroughly with olive oil, garlic, and mustard then sprinkle on a light coating of salt and black pepper. If desired, lightly dust them with a pinch of cayenne pepper for more kick.

Fire up the grill and turn the heat to medium-low, allow the grill to heat for a few minutes. Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook with the top down for 10 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until there are nice grill marks on both sides and the meat is firm.

While the chicken is cooking, rub the okra with olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper. Place on the grill grate and cook for about 2 minutes, turn onto the opposite side, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes until you see nice grill marks. Serve both chicken and okra immediately.

… And you probably thought I missed it! But since March I’ve been working diligently on that other blog that’s taking up a big chunk of my time. Thanks to any readers who haven’t given up on me yet, because my heart will always be here at Liv Bites.

And I can assure you that I’ve been cooking plenty, even if I haven’t always recorded it. I used to think it sounded so smug when chefs would breezily dismiss recipes, claiming they preferred to “just cook” and “make it taste good.” Confession: Since finishing culinary school, that’s exactly what I do. I’m annoyed even typing it, but it’s true that once you know the basic techniques, quantities aren’t so important anymore.
 

That’s the case with the dish I’m sharing today. But first, I’ve decided since graduating that my assistant should be promoted to sous-chef. Seems fitting, right? Congrats to the sous — I couldn’t do any of it without you.
 

Anyway, my sous-chef has an unwritten rule when it comes to dining out: If there are braised lamb shanks on the menu, he’s going to order them. No matter the type of cuisine or the restaurant, he’s tried every one he’s come across. And since braising is one technique I’m grateful to have mastered during school, I wanted to see if my simple style could compare to the ones at Mission Beach Cafe he so pines for.
 

I’ll share a secret, too. You can use the exact same recipe and substitute chicken, pork butt, lamb shoulder or any other tough cut for braising. The same steps and ingredients will work every time. You’d likely be shocked at home bare-bones my kitchen at home is, but if I can recommend any cooking tool, it’s a Le Creuset Dutch Oven. Treat yourself to one of these, please; I owe it my every success.
 

Oh, and the verdict. These lamb shanks are every bit as delicious and fall-off-the-bone tender as restaurant offerings, but with a home-cooked feel I may even prefer. Root vegetables — and bacon! — can always fulfill the need for comfort food.

Spring Lamb Shanks
 

Ingredients (Serves 2*):

2 lamb shanks*

2 slices quality bacon, cut into bite-size pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup dry white wine

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock

1 tbsp. chopped thyme

1 bay leaf

4 to 5 radishes, quartered

1 yukon gold potato, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 parsnip, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 turnip, cut into 1-inch cubes
 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat lamb shanks dry and season with salt and pepper.
 

In a large Dutch oven, saute the bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon, reserving the fat.
 

Turn the heat to high and place lamb shanks in the pot. Let them brown for 2 to 3 minutes and do not move them. When the bottom side has browned, turn and brown on remaining sides.
 

Remove shanks from the pot and turn the heat to low. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant. Add wine, tomatoes, stock, thyme and bay leaf to the pot, and gently nestle the shanks back into the pot so they are partially submerged in the liquid. Crank the heat to high until the mixture comes to a boil.
 

Once it boils, cover the Dutch oven and place in the preheated 350-degree oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
 

Remove the pot from the oven and add in the root vegetables, making sure they are immersed in the liquid. Place the pot back in the oven and cook for another 1 hour. Serve shanks over couscous or polenta, or alone as a stew in a bowl.
 

*I had a whole serving of broth and vegetables left over after my sous-chef and I ate these shanks. If you’re cooking 3 shanks, you don’t need to increase the quantities of any other ingredients. If you’re serving 4 (with 4 shanks), you can simply increase the cooking liquid to 5 or 6 cups of stock.

I’ve joked before to my classmates that I often feel like I’m a Top Chef contestant at school. We have two minutes left until the main course has to be up, my sauce still hasn’t reduced enough, and I forgot to chop the parsley for garnish. The plates hit the counter not a second too soon, and I see some glaring hole in my masterpiece, like forgetting to add those chopped walnuts I so carefully toasted.

In reality, of course, there is a massive divide between what we do at school and what they do on TV. But last week we were tested with our own Top Chef-style exercise in improvisational cooking — no recipes, and no planning ahead.

My instructor gave us each a scrap of paper with four foods listed on it, and we had to come up with an appetizer and a main course using those ingredients. On TV the ingredients would be something ridiculous like sardines, cake flour, cornflakes and kale, but my combination was much gentler: Chicken Breast, Blood Orange, Beets and Endive.

My appetizer was a Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Tower with a Picked Herb Salad.

The picture tells you pretty much everything you need to know about how I made that dish. But the main course was more exciting.

A Roasted Chicken Breast with Braised Endives and Blood Oranges, served with a Wild Rice Pilaf.

My rice was undercooked, but I was very happy with how the flavors meshed in this dish. The sweetness of the blood oranges really countered the bitterness of the endive, and I threw a little sautéed pancetta in there for the umami. I kept the chicken simple, seasoning ahead and basting with butter.

The key to wild rice, I’m learning, is that you need much more liquid than you think you do. Don’t be afraid to keep adding more, especially if you want it to cook faster; you can always strain it at the end.

And here’s how we do it.

Roasted Chicken Breasts with Braised Endives, Blood Oranges and Wild Rice

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. butter, divided

1 shallot, minced

1 cup wild rice

4 cups chicken stock

2 chicken breasts, skin on

Salt and pepper

4 oz. pancetta, diced

4 Belgian endives, stem end trimmed and quartered

2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp. blood orange juice

3 blood oranges, segmented

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt 1 tbsp. of butter in a medium saucepan, and add shallots. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until soft, then add the wild rice. Cook rice for another minute, and then add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook covered for 1.5 hours or until tender. If mixture is has too much liquid, drain in a colander before serving.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper in a roasting pan and dot with remaining 2 tbsp. of butter. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees, basting twice. Remove from oven and let rest.

While the chicken is cooking, sauté the pancetta in a large sauté pan until crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove and set aside, reserving the fat.

Heat the same pan with pancetta fat and place endive slices in the bottom of the pan. Brown over medium-high heat, adding more oil if necessary. Flip the endives so that each side attains a golden brown color. Transfer pan into oven with chicken and cook another 5 minutes, or until endives are soft.

Remove endives from oven and add in balsamic vinegar, blood orange juice and blood orange segments. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut chicken breasts in half and serve with endive mixture and wild rice.

I mentioned in my last post that my classmates and I each had to come up with our own full restaurant menu for a recent assignment. Now you know all about the Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragout, but I thought it might be fun to post the rest of my fantasy restaurant items. Think of it like fantasy football for the athletically challenged.

Starters

Roasted Carrot Soup

Ginger Crème Fraiche, Chives, Olive Oil

Chanterelle Mushroom Flatbread

Caramelized Onions, Sage, Parmigiano Reggiano

Blood Orange and Shaved Fennel Salad

Goat Cheese, Pistachios, Blood Orange-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Dungeness Crab Claws

Celery Stalks, Anchovy Butter

Mains

Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragout

Grilled Polenta Cake, Broccolini

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Mustard Cream Sauce, Wilted Mustard Greens, Fontina Risotto

Roasted Stuffed Acorn Squash

Wild Rice, Toasted Walnuts, Swiss Chard, Pomegranate-Red Wine Reduction

Pan-Seared Halibut

Black Olive Tapenade, Israeli Couscous, Green Beans

Fennel Braised Lamb Shank

Shiitake Mushrooms, Baby Carrots, Pearl Onions, Toasted Farro

House-Made Tagliatelle

Duck Confit, Sautéed Kale

Desserts

Lemon Mousse Napoleon

Pomegranate Seeds, Pomegranate-Blackberry Sauce

Dark Chocolate Tart

Hazelnut Crust, Caramel Sauce, Sea Salt

Goat’s Milk Panna Cotta

Blood Orange Sorbet, Cookie Streusel

Espresso Walnut Cake

Crème Fraiche Gelato, Kahlua Reduction

Some of the things you can most definitely look forward to me trying in my own kitchen are the Roasted Carrot Soup (inspired by a similar one at Coco 500) and the Pan-Seared Halibut with Tapenade. My assistant and I actually took our first stab at the Lamb Shank last night, and though it was delicious, I’m holding off for now — there are exciting improvements to be made next time around.

In other good news, I made the Dark Chocolate Tart in class as well. Recipe coming soon!

The only glaringly obvious thing missing from my menu is a restaurant name. Ideas?

Before I started culinary school and thought I knew what I was doing in the kitchen, I used to love posting my own recipes on my blog. For the past six months, I’ve been learning the correct way to do things — the “techniques” — and I’m happy to say I’m having more fun in my own kitchen than ever. The good news is that even if you don’t want to make classic dishes like a fish soufflé or a heavy Bordelaise sauce at home, you can apply the basics to dishes you do want to eat.

In just a few short weeks I will graduate from Tante Marie’s, and I can’t wait to get back to one of my favorite pastimes: recipe development. I started this blog because there’s nothing I’d rather write about more than adventures in the kitchen — and at the dining table.

That’s why I was especially excited to learn of our latest challenge in class. A couple of weeks ago, my instructor asked each of us to write an entire restaurant menu — complete with four to five appetizers, main courses and desserts — including whatever (cohesive, reasonable) dishes we could dream up. She later announced that we’d each be cooking two of the items from our menu.

I knew immediately which dish I wanted to make: Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragout with Grilled Polenta Cake and Broccolini.

The general reaction from my classmates when I announced I had chosen rabbit for this exercise was… dismay. After all, we could make anything we want, and it’s one of the only times we’ve been able to request luxuries like lobster, halibut and beef tenderloin.

But when I was home over Christmas, my dad happened to have a rabbit in his freezer ready to thaw. (He buys a lot of meat he can’t get in the Jackson, Mississippi supermarket online.) Thinking of the braising techniques I’d learned in class, I suggested slow-cooking the rabbit with polenta for dinner, and my father jumped at the idea. I did it without a recipe, inspired by other dishes we’d made at school, and I was positively triumphant when, after eating slowly and quietly, my dad pronounced the dish “restaurant quality.”

This was coming from a guy whose favorite restaurant is Gary Danko. I beamed.

Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragout with Grilled Polenta Cake and Broccolini

For the rabbit:
1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 rabbit, cleaned and cut into 6 to 7 pieces
2 oz. pancetta, diced 1/4-inch thick
3 tbsp. olive oil, plus more as needed
1/2 cup onion, diced 1/4-inch thick (about 1/2 an onion)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 1/4-inch thick
1 celery stalk, diced 1/4-inch thick
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 bouquet garni, made of a few sprigs of parsley, bay leaf and sprigs of thyme
3 1/2 oz. chanterelle mushrooms, or any wild mushrooms
Salt and pepper

For the polenta cake:
1 cup dried polenta
Salt and pepper
Olive oil, if necessary

For the broccolini:
1 bunch broccolini
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the rabbit:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add enough hot water to cover the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and set aside to soak.
Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper and set aside.
Sauté pancetta in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot until crispy but still soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside, reserving the fat.
Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and add the rabbit pieces in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan. Cook each piece for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until the skin begins to turn golden brown. Remove the rabbit pieces from the pan and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and sauté onion until soft, around 10 to 12 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook another 10 minutes, until all vegetables are tender. Return rabbit pieces to the pot, along with wine, chicken stock, tomatoes and bouquet garni.
Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove, then cover the pot and let it simmer in the oven for 45 minutes.
While the rabbit is cooking, roughly chop the chanterelle mushrooms and cook them in a sauté pan on high heat to release their moisture. Then add a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté until tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove rabbit braise from oven, and remove the rabbit pieces from the pot onto a large plate or bowl. Allow rabbit to rest until it is cool enough to handle, then shred the meat from the bones in bite-size pieces and set aside.
Strain the dried mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid. Add the soaking liquid to the pot.
Return the braising liquid to the stove and bring to a boil, reducing the mixture by half. Once it has thickened, remove the bouquet garni. Add the shredded rabbit meat and sautéed chanterelle mushrooms, and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

For the polenta cake:
In a large saucepan, add the dried polenta and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the mixture is thick, and season with salt and pepper.
Spread the cooked polenta onto a quarter sheet pan or other pan that is at least 1 inch tall and long enough to fit the polenta. Let it cool completely.
Meanwhile, heat a grill pan on the stove until very hot. Cut polenta into squares about 2 inches long and wide. Cook the polenta squares on the grill pan until they have nice grill marks, spraying the pan with oil if necessary to prevent sticking.

For the broccolini:
Wash and trim ends off of broccolini. Bring enough water to cover the broccolini (about 4 cups) to boil in a large saucepan. Add broccolini to the pot and let it boil for about 2 to 3 minutes, until it just starts to become tender.
Drain broccolini in a colander, then sauté in butter and oil in a sauté pan for another 5 minutes, until very tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve polenta cake with rabbit ragout on top, with broccolini on the side.

I murdered a lobster in class this week. If it sounds dramatic, it was.

Most people take the easy way out when it comes to crustaceans — submerge them while they’re still alive in boiling water, and they die instantly. But according to my culinary instructor, there’s actually a more humane way to go about it, and it’s not pretty: Stab the lobster with a chef’s knife in the back of the “neck,” and they die instantly.

Unfortunately, that does not mean their body parts stop moving instantly.

After the dirty work was over, the lobster cooking was actually a joy. We made two dishes out of just one lobster, in the resourceful fashion of French housewives of the ages. Since traditionally Lobster Bisque is served without the meat and just flavored with the shells, we were able to cook an additional Lobster Citrus Salad with the meat.

Hilariously, this is how you present it:

Creepy, no?

The bisque took just over half an hour to cook, and if you don’t mind smelling like seafood all day (clearly, I don’t) it was a cinch.

I tend to think of Lobster Bisque as being thick and heavy, but this one is mostly broth finished with just a splash of heavy cream and a pinch of cayenne. A much more delicate experience than the flour-y ones you order at bad seafood restaurants.

And really, is there anything sweeter and more delicious than lobster meat? Please make a lobster salad with orange or grapefruit segments soon. If you decide to forgo the initial stabbing, I won’t tell.

When it comes to food, my assistant and I agree on most things. He’s turned me on to his loves like olives and peppers, and I introduced him to the wonderful world of Greek yogurt. But there is nothing he loves more than meat — especially sausage. It constantly impresses me how he can sneak sausage into almost any meal I’m making (on his plate, not mine). And when we’re eating meals separately, I can safely assume grilled sausages were on his plate.

Needless to say, he was beyond excited when I came over to his apartment last week with a bag of school-made Garlic Sausages.

I had no idea what to expect from our workshop in sausage-making, but here were the major takeaways:

• Sausage-making is very messy. I don’t know if I’ll ever look at raw pork — or yes, raw pork back fat — the same way.
• It’s an ordeal. If you’re going to go for it, go ahead and make pounds upon pounds of sausage, because you can always freeze them.
• You will smell like pork all day. Two showers are better than one.
• It’s really, really fun!

My father very generously surprised me with a KitchenAid stand mixer as a Christmas gift (thank you!), so imagine my shock to see that we were using the very same machines in class, with a special attachment, to make our sausages. In other words, for the nominal price of around $50, I could be making my own sausage at home.

Visions of a sausage-making party — not for the faint of heart — have begun floating around in my mind.

I was saddened to see that I didn’t snap any pictures of the raw sausages, but you’ve seen them all before. We used them to make a couple of different dishes, including:

Sausage Bruschetta with Roasted Peppers and Herbs

And a Warm Sausage Potato Salad with Wilted Arugula

In cooking school we always take the long way when making everything, and I’ve come to realize that not everything is worth it. Making your own sausages definitely is. Not only do you not have to worry about additives and nitrates and such, you also control the quality of the meat that goes in, as well as the seasonings. So take my advice and throw in another clove of garlic.

My cooking course is as traditionally French as it gets, so I have to admit I feel a little thrill when we make something that’s not covered in cream and cheese. Last week’s workshop was a truly special treat: Antipasti and Stuffed Pasta, two of my favorite foods to eat with a big glass of red at a cozy restaurant.

In general, Antipasti includes cooked vegetables that are dressed or marinated and served at room temperature at the beginning of a meal. Here’s a quick sampling of some of the dishes we made — none of which took more than around half an hour, by the way, and all of which would make excellent side dishes as well.

Marinated and Grilled Portabello Mushrooms

Grilled Asparagus in a Tangy Vinaigrette (my contribution!)

Whole Roasted Sweet Onions

Steamed Cauliflower with Herb Salsa (admittedly not the biggest winner of the day)

Eggplant and Zucchini Sauté

And then it was onto the Stuffed Pastas, which I’m dying to master. I think what people don’t realize is how easy it really is to make pasta by hand, and these are especially easy because they don’t require a pasta machine.

If you have some eggs, oil and flour in your pantry and a rolling pin (or empty bottle of wine?) you can whip up pasta in no time. Just make the dough, roll it out as thin as you can, cut it into squares, and stuff it with some ricotta or goat cheese and herbs. After that, the pasta takes literally 3 minutes to cook in boiling water. It is the definition of easy entertaining.

Here are the ones we made:

Cappellaci with Sweet Potatoes and a Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Tortellini with Prosciutto in a Cream Sauce

Spinach Ravioli with Marinara Sauce

Honestly, these were all good, but the sweet potatoes in brown butter were hard to beat. An extra bonus: all of them freeze really well, so they’re perfect to make ahead and have on hand… as soon as I have a free afternoon one of these days.

One of the questions people always ask me about being in school is whether I still like to cook when I get home. It may come as a surprise, but the answer is definitely YES! I look forward to it, and it relaxes me. And it’s at home where I can make all the stuff I really want to eat — wheatberries and squash and anything healthy, these days — without having to stick to the school program.

So basically, I cook all day, everyday. And when I’m not cooking, I’m thinking about all of the many restaurants I want to try.

Not every dish we make at school is one I’m rushing home to recreate. Culinary school teaches you all the basic, French techniques that made food taste good back when ingredients weren’t so ripe — meaning they usually benefited from a good smothering of cream, cheese and breadcrumbs. And more cream, apparently.

These days, of course, things are different. I’m lucky enough to live in Northern California, practically a stone’s throw from where some of the best produce in the world is grown, so eating local and organic means your food pretty much tastes good as is. That’s why covering a delicate white fish in a thick, white floury concoction grosses me out, and so does eating veal with a Bordelaise sauce and a side of Broccoli Gratin in the middle of the day.

But that’s what we’re learning to make, so that’s what we’re eating half the time. And the other half the time… I’m absolutely in heaven incredible recipes that I am rushing home to make. Like one particular one from this week, Black Cod with Sweet and Sour Onions.

This meal had essentially all of my favorite things on one perfect plate. Let me break it down.

First, we marinated filets of Black Cod in olive oil and Sherry, and then seared it on the stove with the skin on. Use a non-stick pan, and that translates to a pleasantly crispy skin and a flaky inside (just trust me and don’t try it without the non-stick pan).

Next, we caramelized red onions until they were completely soft and melt-in-your-mouth buttery, then tossed in a little sugar and vinegar. To finish the onions, we mixed them with toasted pine nuts and currants. Swoon.

After that, we toasted some farro with lemon and parsley to serve alongside the fish. I had never tried farro until recently, but now it’s my absolute favorite grain, making me forget about wild rice, Israeli couscous, and even quinoa (for the moment). It’s deliciously chewy and has a nutty flavor that I go crazy for.

And finally, sautéed kale to provide the leafy green component.

And did I mention that the cod was topped off with a lemon garlic butter sauce spiked with smoked paprika.

Yeah, I feel pretty lucky.