Why I love onesies

April 26, 2010

My former colleague Joan once commented that I wore a lot of dresses in the summer. I told her dresses are the working woman's onesie. I love one-dish meals for the same reason I like to wear dresses. Everything already is matched up for you. Just as you don't have to coordinate a top to your pants, a one-dish meal already includes the vegetable to go with your protein. Sure, you still have to accessorize (shoes, wine or beer), but you had to do that anyway. A dress takes up less space in a suitcase, and a one-dish meal takes up less pots on the stove. Less pots on the stove, less pots my husband has to clean after dinner. Everyone wins!

Halibut, spinach and orzo onesie, adapted from Bon Appetit, October 2005
Serves 2

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 4-6 ounce halibut fillets
3/4 cup orzo (or any other teeny pasta)
2 garlic clove, minced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
8 ounce bag of baby spinach

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Whisk together two tablespoons of the olive oil and the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put the halibut fillets on a small baking sheet and drizzle with about half of the dressing. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until opaque in the center.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling water until tender. Saute the garlic in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil about one minute. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook over medium high heat until they start to burst, about 5-7 minutes. Toss the spinach in and allow it to wilt. When the orzo is done, add it to the pan too. Season with more salt and pepper. To serve, divide the orzo/spinach/tomato mixture amongst plates, top with a piece of halibut, and drizzle with the remaining lemon dressing.

4 comments:

Emily Pearl Goodstein said...

I LOVE YOU, THIS POST, AND ONESIES! (when you call dressed onesies, it also reminds me of how you sometimes call wine "juice.")

JustJoan said...

the temperature is definitely headed toward the onesies every day kind of weather. Thanks for the shoutout and remembering my profound statements. Still think about you when I see any exotic meat.

Barley McHops said...

I strongly support any and all dishes made in one pot. Especially if the pot is made out of some sort of compressed, rawhide material that you can then feed to your dog, thereby eliminating all dishes. I realize such I thing doesn't exist, but if it did, it would free up a solid 5 minutes of my valuable time every evening and my dogs would be morbidly obese.

Also, why don't men have an equivalent of the onesie? Babies get all sorts of one-piece clothes and women get dresses. From now on, I'm walking around in a jumpsuit with little plastic feet attached to them and the underwear built in. Hopefully they sell them at Target right next to the rawhide crock-pot.

Elsa said...

Yes!!! Could not agree more. And I freaking love the sounds of this dish. But I would have to argue that it is not a true onesie. Andy would disqualify it unless he gets to just rinse the orzo pot without a sponge. Life without a dishwasher... ;)