I will apologize upfront for the typos, mispellings, random thoughts, etc. in this blog. You see, I am in the middle of taking a self administered medical test this morning and have been up for two hours, with barely any water, much less caffeine. Yesterday, I had to reduce my diet to anything 'white', which, if you are not new to my blog, you would know is my own personal hell. I crave vegetables. My favorite 'white' foods are coconut Jelly Bellys and that addictive cookie dough Coconut Milk ice cream mentioned in my previous blog. My directions specifically stated "Plain white bread, plain white rice, plain white potatoes, baked or broiled chicken or fish, water, non-flavored black coffee or tea. Salt may be used to flavor your food." Well, thank God. At least I could have salt. Everything else on this list was my nightmare. Seriously? WHITE RICE? I haven't had that since the early 80s when no one knew any better! (But back in the day I did love me some Rice a Roni, the "San Francisco Treat". And I'm here to tell you, I cheated yesterday. I made my usual latte with my fave unsweetened Almond Milk. I had half a Larabar in one of my favorite flavors, Cinnamon Roll. And then I picked at whatever I could find that would be as gastronomically harmless as white rice. As well as nutritionally void. Saltines with a tad of Polaner All Fruit, Blueberry. Gluten free crackers. Water. Ugh .  .  . the blueberries and hemp seed protein were calling my name. But I was to avoid, specifically : "Beans, pasta, meats (steaks), fiber or bran cereals, soda (pop) cola drinks, butter or margarine and high fiber foods (whole grains)." Like I said, it was hell. 
But it didn't say anything about juices (?!?) so I 'indulged' in glass of carrot, greens and ginger deliciousness. And then for dinner? Well, it said simple broiled fish, and I got very excited. It's the little things you know? I've always wanted to try cooking fish in parchment paper so I seized the opportunity. What could be 'simpler' than the "en Papillote"? I picked out a beautiful piece of Wild Salmon and recycled parchment paper at my favorite health food store here in Tampa, FL, Village Health Market on South Mac Dill (much like Everything Natural in Clarks Summit, it is my saving grace here), and was ready to rock! Well, let me be the first to tell you, it turned out BEAUTIFULLY! I am so excited and proud of myself, as, while I am constantly whipping up grain and vegetable dishes, being single for so long, I rarely took the time to make myself a fish meal. This was SO easy. All I did was place the fish on the parchment paper, cut two slits in the fish and stick garlic slivers in them (that may have been against my 'rules' but whatever. I already broke a bunch of them!) drizzled with lemon and olive oil, added two lemon slices on top of the fish and VOILA! Wrap that fish up on a baking sheet and stick it in the oven at 400* for 15-20 minutes (The time will depends on how well done you like your fish. I was using salmon and I like mine still slightly pink!)

I couldn't believe how gorgeous this turned out! And no mess to boot. You just toss the parchment paper when through, which by the way is 100% recyclable! I so thoroughly enjoyed this and can't believe it took me this long to experiment with parchment paper. The next move? A whole meal with parchment paper. You can add veggies and some grains with the fish and all the flavors will bake beautifully together. Stay tuned for more experiments with this! For now, my buzzer just went off for the final stage of my 'test' and I'm a turning on the stove to make my coffee. The latte calls. If you are interested in how to make the best at home latte, email me here!