I wonder why fish is called brain food. Is there some sort of scientific proof behind this? At my house growing up, my father detested fish, even the smell of it. No fish was ever allowed! Even our poor cat grew up without it! How much smarter we would have been if we’d been able to eat fish before we went away to college.

And speaking of fish…

Pan-seared halibut with parsley sauce, a purée of chickpeas and braised carrots, onions, and fennel

This dinner had a lot of moving parts and used several pots and the food processor. First I made the parsley sauce. The recipe said to use a blender but I already was getting the food processor dirty for the chickpea puree so I opted to use the food processor for both. The parsley sauce would come out smoother in a blender. Then I made the chickpea puree. Both these dishes are basically “add water, olive oil, lemon juice and puree.” Then season. The braising of the fennel, onions, and carrots took about 20 minutes. I started these in a little water and olive oil and then cooked off the water at the end and let the vegetables brown.

Speaking of fennel, carrots, and parsley, the all come from the same plant family as do caraway, parsnips, and Queen Anne’s lace (is that edible?) So I added some caraway seeds which were tasty.  Also put in some fennel fronds at the end.

So that just leaves the fish. Since I don’t cook the proteins in our house, all I know is that John followed a recipe for pan-seared halibut from the New York Times cooking site. (I will no doubt become a full-time vegetarian when John stops cooking.)