A fishy Italian feast

I was pretty lazy today, I just did some organizing, and a little strength training in the afternoon; about 10 minutes of ab work and 10 minutes of arms. Afterwards I had a snack of 1/2 cup 0% greek yogurt with some pineapple and almond slivers.

Tonight for dinner I tried a few new things; some classic italian recipes and the fresh bluefish my sister caught a while ago! My mom had saved me some, and I marinated it earlier today with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, thyme and basil. We attempted to grill it, but the wind picked up and the charcoal grill wouldn't light; so I pan-seared it instead.
Since the fish took so long, we ate our sides first, italian primo piatto style. I made my favorite stuffed eggplants, recipe to follow! They're basically boiled eggplants mixed with breadcrumbs, olive oil, parsley, tomato, onion and fresh mozzarella, baked, stuffed back into the shell and topped with a marinara sauce. It was very good, but I made a bit extra filling so we each had extra little "eggplant stuffing balls" on the side as well!

I also made a little italian treat- I was out in my garden this morning picking fresh parsley for dinner, when I spotted zucchini flowers! I knew I had to have my family try the not-so-good-for-you, but oh so tasty fried zucchini flowers I helped make in italy! I didn't deep fry them, just a quick pan fry, but I did use the classic flour/egg/beer/s&p batter. (I had one to try)

Finally, the fish was ready, and it was fantastic if I do say so myself! My family loved it... little did they know this was my first time marinating and pan searing fresh fish! I love to experiment, and I'm glad this experiment worked out well. The fish was light and flaky, not too done and not too rare. I had a big piece along with my stuffing ball for my secondo piatto!

I am stuffed, but in a good way! This dinner was so good, I'll definately be making everything again!