Sage & Lemon Butter Cod . . . with citrus rice & watermelon salad

Well hello hello, all! :) It's been awhile hasn't it? The summer holiday is somehow wrapping up for us and it's been a VERY busy, full and exciting last two weeks. We've been away in Dallas, Texas for our annual Mary Kay seminar, spent the weekend in Tyler, Texas which I'll tell you all about soon and NOW, my in-laws have arrived from Australia and are staying with us for two weeks! Whew! Whirlwind, to say the least.

But as you well know, traveling for us means lots of new food experiences and inspiration... and we've got some recipes for you! James has been joining me in the kitchen every day for almost every meal since we've been home and I can't wait to share it all with you!

For today, I'm giving you the perfect, casual, summer dinner party menu items:
Sage and Lemon Butter baked Cod served along side a refreshing Watermelon Citrus Rice Salad.. sound intriguing? (or bizarre?) ;)

Let's start with the fish, shall we?

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil, a piece for each piece of fish.
• lightly butter the bottom of the foil where the fish will be placed.
• we started (sadly) from frozen but it'd be best if the fish were thawed... place the fish on the buttered foil.
• melt a generous amount of butter in a small bowl and squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
• pour the mixture over the fish pieces, then generously pepper and lightly salt.
• top with a fresh leaf of sage and bake for 20-25 minutes.

While it's baking....

• Cook one heaping cup of basmati rice and let it mostly cool when it's finished.
• Finely chop up some fresh romaine or spinach leaves and toss in a big, pretty salad bowl.
• Toss in a handful of dried cranberries (alternately pomegranate seeds), golden raisins and a heavy handful of slivered almonds.
• Juice one lime and two oranges and pour over the salad mixture.

• Dice or slice watermelon into small, bite-sized pieces and toss them in. Note: the watermelon texture, flavor and wetness is KEY in this salad, so don't be shy with it... slice a little more than you're thinking and you'll be glad you did.

• Toss in some crumbled goat's cheese.
• Get your awesome husband to cool the rice with cold water. He's so hot, right?

•  Once it's cooled, toss it on top and mix the salad together.

• Your fish should be finished by now. Beware, it'll smell unbelievably intoxicating. Nothing smells better than cooked butter, amen? Pull it out and place on the plate to serve. Make sure to spoon out the extra juice left behind on the foil and drizzle on top.

• Add in a splash of balsamic vinegar, a sprinkling of salt and some cracked black pepper to the salad and mix. Light some candles (excuse the awful, unfinished table setting photo), turn on your twinkle lights and dish out the gorgeous summer meal.

This meal took all of 25 minutes to make and baking the fish leaves plenty of time to prep your ingredients AND your table with no fuss or stress... give it a whirl!

Glad to be back... let's eat!

xox