And the oysters are fantastic! I had to use my hipstamatic app on my iphone for these photos because Mobile really did feel like a step back into the past. So, the actual presentation did look quite nice, trust me. We ordered some grilled oysters that came topped with herbs and cheese. The catch of the day was grouper, and we had that blackened. It was one of the best pieces of fish I remember eating. Ever. Really- No exaggeration. Super moist, cooked perfectly, and seasoned with an evenly balanced spice rub that was sweet, salty, and spicy. Delicious.

It all started with some mushrooms. My friend Chad from Hazel Dell suggested I try these tree oyster mushrooms last week at the Boulder Farmers Market, so I had to figure out what to do with them.

Also, I had a beautiful head of radicchio from Ollin Farms, which was an ingredient in my CSA Challenge. I knew I wanted to grill it, which is easy. Just slice it, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt, and grill for a few minutes. Turns out great.

Then we decided to buy some halibut. Now I knew what to do with my meal. Halibut with caramelized onions, grilled radicchio, zucchini, and yellow pepper, and sauteed tree oyster mushrooms. A perfect combination.

It is easy to caramelize onions. It just takes a little while, so that usually needs to be done first. I had a beautiful little walla-walla onion from the market, so I sliced it and added it to a hot saute pan with a little olive oil and let that start to turn golden brown. You need to watch your onions and turn down the heat if they start to burn. The idea is to let them slowly release their sugars and caramelize into sweet, delicious, heavenly-brown goodness.

As I said before, the radicchio and veggies were grilled. I baked the halibut with a little olive oil at 350 until is was just cooked through. All ovens are a little different, so watch your fish. Mine took 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, a mushroom saute with a little butter, olive oil, shallots, sea salt and pepper was under way. Nothing too fancy because all of my produce came from local farms, so it was all super fresh and delicious.

I definitely enjoyed this one!

This turned out to be a labor intensive dinner, but definitely worth the effort.

I served Sweet and Sour BBQ Tuna (which is tuna steak that has been smothered in my Sweet and Sour BBQ Sauce and grilled), Sesame Soy Avocado Salad, Simple Mango Chutney, Sesame-Lime Snow Peas, grilled yellow pepper, and wild rice. I serve this with extra Sweet and Sour BBQ sauce and some of the extra pineapple onion mixture left over from making that BBQ sauce.

Definitely worth the effort.

This meal is Maple Shallot Salmon, brown rice with a Maple Shallot Dressing, and parmesan peas (a personal favorite of mine). I marinated the Salmon for 30 minutes prior to baking it at 375 for 20 or so minutes. I also decided to make plain brown basmati rice so I could use whatever was left over to make home made rice milk. So, I made a dressing to pour over the baked fish and cooked rice. Finally, my favorite veggie dish- boiled peas in freshly grated parmesan cheese. I could eat these peas every day.

Salmon Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TB freshly grated ginger
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB water
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (which you can find at Savory Spice Shop)
• 2 green onions, chopped

I prepared the marinade in a small bowl and poured it evenly over my cold-water-washed, dried, and de-boned salmon that was sitting on a foil-covered flat baking tray. I preheated the oven to 375 and let the salmon soak in some flavors. Right before it went in the oven, I poured the juice of 1/2 lemon on top.

Meanwhile, I prepared some brown basmati rice, which took 45 minutes or so. I usually add something to flavor the rice as it cooks, but, making rice milk with the leftover rice prohibited that. Instead, I made this dressing to drizzle over the meal.

Maple Shallot Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 TB soy sauce
• 1 TB maple syrup
• 1 TB toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 TB dried ginger (fresh will work, of course. Just use a little less than dried.)
• 1 TB dried shallots (I bought mine, like ALL of my spices, from Savory Spice Shop)
• 1 green onion, chopped
• juice from 1/2 lime