Monday Night Dinner

On Monday nights my trainer beats me up for an hour and then makes me feel extra special at the end of our session by putting me on the scale. By 8:30 pm I'm guilted into trying to start off the week by eating a light healthy dinner. Last night was no exception. I made pistachio encrusted tilapia with spaghetti squash. Now I know what you're thinking, pistachios are fatty, but the truth is they're one of the healthiest nuts, high in potassium, magnesium, and B6. For the tilapia I pulsed pistachios, italian parsley, garlic, and a little olive oil in my food processor to make a pesto. I smothered the pesto over lightly salt and peppered tilapia and baked at 425 for 12 minutes. For the spaghetti squash, I halved the squash and cored the seeds, microwaved for 10 minutes (cheating, I know), then boiled until soft. I scraped the inside flesh with a fork to get the nice spaghetti-like noodles, then added salt, pepper, and grated asiago (parmesan works too). Big N paired our dinner with a 2001 Cottonwood Canyon Chardonnay. Crisp, clean, light on the oak, just the way I like it. Last night we enjoyed our dinner next to the fireplace, watching the stormy skies and first signs of snow off the San Gabriel mountains. A perfect way to start out the week.