Sweet and Sour Tofu with Broccoli & Big News!

Hope everyone is doing well out in blogworld. Things have been very busy for Ryan and I over the last year and I haven't exactly announced the reason for us being so busy, but figure it's about time. We're finally getting married!!

After being together for almost half of our lives (15 years) and being engaged for 10 of those years, we decided to get married. We've been intensely planning a very fun wedding for our friends and family and the date is quickly approaching. We get married next Saturday here in the Twin Cities. The ceremony will be at a Japanese garden surrounded by our closest friends and family and we're holding a reception in downtown Minneapolis for about 130 guests.

I've planned plenty of conferences and events over my lifetime, but nothing as major as this. It's seriously the ULTIMATE event and we're lucky we're so organized. Boy do people look surprised when we whip out the spreadsheets :) After this weekend, we should be all set for the big day and able to enjoy the next week.

So, if I'm not posting for awhile, now you know why. It's always odd announcing personal news on a blog, but figured you've all been with us in cyberspace for the last couple years and should know what's up.

We haven't had too much time to cook because we normally get home around 10pm, watch a TV show, and go to bed, but every once in awhile we make some food. Sweet and Sour Tofu and Broccoli is one of my all time favorites and I love that Ryan made this for us when he got home early one day.




This time we were going to add zucchini, but forgot. Oh well. Ryan used 1 tablespoon of molasses instead of 1 teaspoon and instead of ruining the dish, it gave it a whole new flavor. I loved it!

We'll see how posting goes over the next week. During our honeymoon, I'm hoping to not have any contact with a computer, but maybe I can look into that auto-posting feature so you think I'm on top of things - ha!

Fennel Halibut with Fennel Tzatziki & Beet Salad

Ryan and keep saying we're going to make some halibut that has been in our freezer for months now. However, we never actually make it. It was the forgotten item until now! We received a bunch of fennel in our last crop share and we usually just grill it.

However, I found this recipe out on Cooking Light.com and thought it would be fantastic to use for our halibut.



Fennel-Marinated Halibut with Fennel Tzatziki

Ingredients
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup shredded fennel bulb
2 teaspoons chopped fennel fronds
1 garlic clove, minced
Cooking spray


Preparation
Combine first 5 ingredients and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large zip-top plastic bag; add fish. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.
Preheat broiler.

Spoon yogurt onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; spread to 1/2-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape into a bowl using a rubber spatula. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, shredded fennel bulb, chopped fennel fronds, and garlic. Cover and refrigerate.

Remove fish from bag; discard marinade. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with yogurt sauce.


The halibut was great! We cooked it well and the fennel flavor wasn't too strong, but perfect for this dish.

Alongside the halibut, we served a beet salad, also from Cooking Light.

We didn't have endive or spinach and instead just used some of our salad mix. The salad was great! I think the dressing made it so much more enjoyable as everything mixed together well.