Triple-Digit Dinner

What do you cook for dinner on the
twelfth day of triple-digit temperatures?

Twelve straight days of 100-degree or higher temps happened here last week, and I was not in the mood to heat up a kitchen that was already struggling to maintain a “cool” 80 degrees! Yes, despite central air conditioning, we were “lucky” to have an 80-degree reading inside while the heat outside registered 104! And that doesn’t include the heat index which was likely somewhere above 110!

It was too hot to fry, too hot to grill out and much too hot to boil. I didn’t even want to bake. So, I decided to throw together a bit of this and a little of that with what I had on hand. We ended up with a light, tasty meal that my family really enjoyed.

Here’s our Triple-Digit Dinner: Broiled Marinated Catfish Fillets, Coleslaw with Dressing, Honeydew with Blueberries, Black-eyed Peas, and Wheat Rolls.

Prepare your favorite coleslaw recipe a few hours ahead of time, then pop into the frig to just chill out!

Slice the honeydew melon (pre-chilled) into cubes, then sprinkle liberally with blueberries. (I thawed some that we picked over at my father-in-law’s house.) Add a little sugar if you desire a sweeter taste. Mix and refrigerate.

I’m assuming you have leftover black-eyed peas, because like I said, I was NOT in the mood to boil anything! Just zap the leftover peas in the microwave.

For bread, get some bakery wheat rolls, and take them straight from the sack. No warming necessary.

And here’s the catfish…

Toasted Sesame Catfish Fillets

4 catfish fillets (3 ounce to 5 ounce), fresh or frozen

Toasted Sesame dressing

Lemon-herb seasoning

Salt and pepper

Thaw fillets if frozen. Rinse in cool water and pat dry with a paper towel or drain well.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then coat with a toasted sesame dressing. For the best flavor, let marinate a few hours in the refrigerator. Sprinkle fillets with lemon-herb seasoning.

Place fillets on a pan and broil several minutes until tender and flaky.

Note: These fillets taste great with the marinade alone. But since we like a lot of lemon on our fish, and I was out of lemons and bottled lemon juice, I tried the lemon-herb seasoning. That touch of lemon really added extra zest.

This week, we are back to triple-digit temperatures! Hmmmm…what’s for dinner tonight?
I’ll let you know!