This week’s supper plan veered sharply off course starting Tuesday night. I’d just finished running club and wanted something really hearty, so I spontaneously stopped at Maui Tacos to get take-out. It struck me while I was waiting in line that I was exhausted and not interested in getting creative with the limited groceries we had for lunches the next day. So the logical solution – order two more meals. It’s quite rare to see me walking out of a taco joint with enough food to feed a family of six. But there I was, and for the next 2.5 days, we had all the Mexican food our little hearts desired. In fact there’s still about a third of a burrito in the fridge and a couple little plastic cups of salsa. Last night demanded something home cooked and simple, and I didn’t have all the ingredients for the Moo Shu Vegetables I planned on, so I concocted an easy meal of halibut over spaghetti marinara and eggplant with olive oil. Here’s what I did:

1) Slice eggplant. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, and red pepper flakes. Sauted slices in olive oil, turning as they brown.

2) Boil and drain spaghetti.

3) For sauce, saut 1/3 diced onion in a drizzle of olive oil. Add 2 cups canned crushed tomatoes. Sprinkle with Italian herbs of your choice (I use Penzey’s pizza seasoning). Add spaghetti to sauce and stir.

4) Sprinkle halibut fillets with salt and pepper. Saut fillets in a drizzle of olive oil on medium-high heat. Fish is ready when both sides are browned and the middle is white and flaky.

5) Put eggplant and spaghetti marinara on plate and top with fish. Douse entire dish with the juice from half a lemon and extra red pepper flakes if you like.

Happy Valentine’s Day – not my favorite holiday, but a good excuse for a tasty meal and (shared!) decadent dessert.