In preparation of a simple Sunday supper for a friend and I, I was hit quite strongly as to why I’ve become attached to food and cooking these past few years:  love.

Cooking for others has become the most tangible way for me to tell them that I love and care for them without directly saying, “I care about you and want to do something to show you that I do.”  It’s done not by thinking those words, but by feeling them.  This is hardly revolutionary.  But as someone who is trying to put that caring toward herself (Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal), I need to regularly remind myself.  It’s not about keeping up with the Culinary Jones’, but keeping on top of making my special peeps feel as special as I can make them.  Food is nourishment.  For the body and the heart.  The act of sharing it with another person or showing a little love to yourself is so basic, yet so important.  It is nourishment for the soul.

The act of making a simple supper made me happy, made me busy.  The simple supper made someone else happy after a long week.  Thus, it was one of the best of recent memory.

Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia

3 bowls:  One, about 0.5 cup of flour, salt and pepper.  Two,  a beaten egg.  Three, about 0.5 cup of cornmeal.
Dip tilapia fillets (washed and dried) in flour, then egg, then cornmeal.  Place on greased, tinfoil-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.  Then broil for about 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Serve with sauce made with 0.75 cup of plain yogurt, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 cucumber, seeded and chopped, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.

Shaved Asparagus and Fennel Salad

I skipped the capers, topped with shaved Piave Vecchio.

Last-Minute Salad

8 halved cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced, 1 sliced mango, few teaspoons of chopped mint.  Dressing of 3 parts sesame oil, 1 part rice vinegar, 1/2 part honey, 1/2 part Sriracha.

Rice pudding and Blueberry-Lime Compote

Compote:  1 cup of frozen blueberries, zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 teaspoons of sugar.  Simmer everything together for about 20 minutes. Cool completely.