Suzanne Graham

Our son is home for a break between summer and fall semesters. I wanted to fix a grain dish to go with cod for last night’s dinner.

I cooked the cod with Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb Seasoning Blend. It is loaded with Type O beneficials. The next to the last ingredient is orange peel, but I can accept that tiny diviation. There is probably more pepper that in good for Type As, but the Type Os outnumbered the Type As for this meal, and my husband liked it.

I sauteed spinach in butter, and added a handful of currants. I’m still not totally confident about the currant rules. The GTD website described the beneficial currants as looking like tiny raisins. The BTD website says all currants are neutral, but that there are two varieties – the tiny raisin-like ones, and the gooseberry-like ones. It’s really a moot point because I can’t get the gooseberry-like ones in South Texas.

After I got the cod in the oven and the spinach wilting, I turned my attention to the grain dish. I had quinoa in mind, but there wasn’t a box in the pantry. However, I did have buckwheat groats. Usually I follow the directions for kasha, which has has a texture similar to rice. But other things were cooking and I didn’t want to take time to precook the kasha in egg. Instead I put the buckwheat in boiling water and turned to another pan where I was grilling an onion and some portabella mushrooms. I turned back to the buckwheat and it had already cooked to mush. So fast! I added the onions and mushrooms and tossed stirred them together. What else could I do? This close to dinner I wasn’t going to start over.

When the family came in I told them that I had taken a short cut and goofed on the pilaf. The texture was all wrong. But after we tasted it, we all agreed that buckwheat with onion and portabellas was a good idea. Next time if I prepare the kasha correctly, I will have a tasty side dish that I can be proud of.

I made one other goof. I didn’t prepare enough. At the end of the meal the buckwheat dish was empty. There was none left over for today’s lunches.