Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Moss Landing

Moss Landing - marvelous little fishing town in the center of Monterey Bay, is only 10 minutes from my house. I don't know why I don't go there more often. There is a great produce stand there. I went on Saturday. I thought to myself, why don't I come here more? No I do go there more. I took the kids today. It is Blood Orange season. I bought 1 on Saturday & once I juiced it that evening & saw how amazing it was, I was kicking myself for not getting more. That is why I had to go back today. This time, I got 7 pounds. No worries. They sell them for only .69 a lb. And, their produce is quite good, too. On Saturday I got 5 Bacon Avocados for $1. It costs more than $1 for one Haas at the grocery store. And, Bacons are superior in taste & texture (just harder to peel).



Since I was there, I decided to get some fish at Phil's Fish Market, for our mid day meal. It was GOOD. I'll tell more about that in a moment...



We took a walk through the town to see the fishing boats & the wildlife. It was a really nice, sunny day. My camera is broken, so I didn't get any good pictures. Here's what they look like.


Kinda cool, I guess. But, I am taking the camera to Carlos the camera man on Friday. I hope it is an easy fix! The lens is kinda pulled out. It got crushed over the holidays...

On our walk, we saw this little otter. Can you see him? Near the boats, on the right side of the photo... Cute guy. We also saw a Sea Lion. We saw him leap out of the water up on the the pier. Very cool. Very exciting. We saw Pelicans & other sea birds. And, lots of fishing boats.

Then we came home for lunch.
We had sauteed Halibut over quinoa. With this salsa on top of it all -

Avocado (Bacons, remember)
Orange (Blood, as you recall)
juice of a Lime
Cilantro
about a tablespoon of minced Jalapeno
some diced Red Onion
Chopped Cilantro
S & P


It had been a long (long) time since I had served quinoa. I don't know. It is super good for you & super easy & not expensive. But, it sort of seems to have no taste to me. And, I don't think about it often. But, I thought of it today, because I figured it would be faster than rice.
Turns out, my daughter, who rarely eats more than a bite of her dinner, loved it. Totally. She ate all of her generous portion, more of her daddy's & more of Peyton's. She sat eating for about 25 minutes. She. The one who asks to be excused about 2 seconds after we are done praying. She told me a number of times how much she loved these seeds for dinner. She also mentioned that today was like Christmas. She was that into it. I'll be making quinoa on a very regular basis. Hopefully she doesn't get sick of it!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

HAHAHA Gillian is soo funny! WHen we were having your home-made granola she said she liked those seeds too! HAHAHA

Julie Handel said...

we've been trying to eat more quinoa too :) we're on a "superfood" diet - trying to eat more good for us stuff. I wish I liked it as much as Gillian!

Nini said...

What a fun outing. Moss landing is a great little place. I have made quinoa with chicken stock or vegetable stock instead of water. That adds a bit of flavor. You have inspired me to get some blood oranges.

Deb said...

i agree with the stock or broth suggestion- it makes a big difference in taste. I also use coconut milk sometimes instead of coconut rice- coconut quinoa... yummy!

Stef said...

Looks like fun! My Dad loves this spot.

emilie said...

This made me laugh Erin! Well - the part about your little girl and quinoa. The part about what you did to your halibut made me jealous :) This whole asking to be excused 2 seconds after we pray sounds like MY daughter. Maybe I should try giving her some Christmas seeds :)

Deb said...

i agree with the stock or broth suggestion- it makes a big difference in taste. I also use coconut milk sometimes instead of coconut rice- coconut quinoa... yummy!

Snooley said...

we've been trying to eat more quinoa too :) we're on a "superfood" diet - trying to eat more good for us stuff. I wish I liked it as much as Gillian!