Contributed By Guest Blogger Vasudha Mukherjee Bal for ……………the Chef in u

This was one of those weekday nights where I was craving for something different for dinner and yet did not have the energy to spend a lot of time in my kitchen. I was feeling equally lazy to look for recipes and started with a blank slate – wondering what I could do with whatever little produce I had in my refrigerator.

I found that some asparagus stocks that screamed “Eat me before I die” loudly to me as I opened the chiller tray. So did some white fish I bought the other day without a clue of what I would do with them. Found some wilted parsley, a few florets of cauliflower and a lone tomato too as well as some couscous. So decided that I would use the trio of couscous, fish, and asparagus for dinner that day. The trio transformed itself to a memorable meal, so wanted to share my accidental gastronomic discoveries with everyone who cares to read. Here is what I did…

Asparagus with lemon agave vinaigrette

I first microwaved a bag of asparagus for a few minutes – you can blanch them if you don’t have the microwaveable variety. Next, I whisked up a dressing with the juice of a lemon, a dash of orange juice, a couple of diced shallots (or use little red onions), some agave nectar (use honey if you don’t have agave), salt and pepper. Next, heat a skillet, put a tablespoon of olive oil, sauté the asparagus, and spread the dressing over it. That is it!

Fish with lemon garlic sauce.

I used haddock fillets, but you can use any white fish that you have with you. I first spread some flour and a couple of teaspoons of panko crumbs on a plate and put salt, pepper and a dry rosemary-garlic rub that I had (use any dry herbs you have). Patted the fish on the flour mixture, shook off the excess flour and out it on a hot grill pan which I had earlier put some oil spray on. (You can use a regular frying pan too, but I love the grill marks that the grill pan gives me, plus cast iron distributes heat evenly).

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