2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil with garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Just as garlic begins to brown, add rosemary and zucchini.
2. Sauté zucchini until just tender, then season with salt and pepper to serve.

Makes 4 servings

4 six ounce halibut fillets
1 cup apricot preserves or marmalade
1/4 cup apple juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat apricot preserves, apple juice, garlic and rosemary in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until thickened.
3. Season fillets with salt and pepper and place them in an oven proof baking dish.
4. Spoon prepared sauce over the fillets and place into the oven. Bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Toss carrots with a few tablespoons of olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put vinegar in a bowl with garlic and rosemary. Gradually whisk in olive oil.
4. Pour prepared vinaigrette over carrots to serve.

Makes 4 servings

I learned two things today. The first is a wonderful thing; I've discovered that I really like halibut. I've had it a couple times before, but I'm assuming it was always overcooked, like most fish I've had in the past, because there was never anything particularly special about it. It really has a wonderful texture and flakes apart quite easily, plus there's only one main bone to worry about. Unfortunately, the second thing I've learned is that fish just isn't cheap. Unless I move to the coast and start fishing myself, I have to accept this. For a single halibut fillet, I had to shell out . For me, that's way too much to spend on a single serving of anything.

I made Apricot Glazed Halibut, which is perhaps a little similar to the Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin, but really not at all. The flavor was a little sweet, but it was easy to brush away the excess preserves and truly savor the fish itself. I would really like to go back in time and prepare it some other way, but I can't. No time machine. So I am now truly regretful that I cannot afford to eat more seafood, but I'll learn to deal with it again, I'm sure.

The rosemary plant that I bought is not looking well. It appears to be dying from the inside out. Unfortunately I think it is because of lack of sunlight and there's really no way to remedy it. Also unfortunate for me is that dead rosemary is not at all similar to dried rosemary, so I've basically wasted a large portion of deliciousness watching it die and hoping it will get better. On the positive, a little rosemary goes a long way, so I stripped some to salvage for my sides.

I had decided to make string beans, but neglected them until the last minute and then changed my mind. Instead, I roasted some carrot "chips" in the oven and prepared a little rosemary vinaigrette to go with them. The Roasted Carrots with Rosemary Vinaigrette would have made a nice component to a salad, which was sort of my intention with the string beans. So I'd recommend adding basically anything to make this a salad; such as some cooked root vegetables (even just potatoes), some string beans or basically anything autumnal. That or serve it with couscous or polenta or something that will make use of the flavorful oil. Of course your other alternative would be to not make it at all, but then you're no fun.

My second rosemary side dish was just Zucchini with Rosemary. They go together and there's no fancy operations here. They would benefit from a nice grilling. Zucchini would also go good with the carrots. I suppose I mean it does go good with the carrots, since they shared the same plate. I'm babbling, time to put more food in my mouth.