Pan Grilled Tilapia with Chimichurri

I made this several weeks ago, and just rediscovered the picture today.  As I remember it was quite yummy and not too difficult.

The recipe came from Cooking Light, and they used halibut. But tilapia is so cheap and we all like it (well,except the girl), so I just went with that.  They served theirs with a rice and charred vegetable mixture, so I did too. Here are the recipes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  tablespoons  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh basil
• 1  tablespoon  finely chopped shallots
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper, divided
• Cooking spray
• 4  (6-ounce) halibut fillets (or tilapia)

Preparation

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper over fish. Add fish to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with sauce.

Rice with Charred Veggies:

Cook 1 cup long-grain white rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add ½ cup thawed frozen whole-kernel corn and ½ cup chopped zucchini to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until vegetables are charred. Stir in ½ cup halved grape tomatoes and 1⁄3 cup chopped green onions; sauté 1 minute or ­until tomatoes almost wilt. Combine vegetable mixture, rice, and ¾ teaspoon salt.

I'm still in a bit of a cooking slump, as I'm trying not to consume so many calorie/fat/butter laden things. Although half the time, I'm failing dismally.  But hey, that's half better than I was doing before. I tried a "light" creme brulee recipe that was an epic fail. Not even worth a picture.  I do think I'll be indulging on Superbowl day, I've got a cheese ball in mind and maybe some rotel dip. And something sweet of course.  

A couple of days ago I tried a bit of an odd crockpot chicken recipe I had seen on some message boards.  I just threw 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crockpot with a cup of ketchup, some garlic powder, chopped onion, and a can of diet coke.  Turned out surprisingly tasty,and very tender.  Was really good made into sandwiches.  

Spicy Tilapia with Pineapple-Pepper Relish

Found this one at My Recipes.  I'm always a little leery about trying to prepare fish, but this turned out pretty good.

I especially loved this relish made with fresh pineapple, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  I thought it went perfect with the fish.  The fish was a little spicy (as the title suggests) but my son just loved it too.

Here are the how to's:

Ingredients

• 2  teaspoons  canola oil
• 1  teaspoon  Cajun seasoning
• 1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 4  (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped fresh pineapple chunks
• 1/3  cup  chopped onion
• 1/3  cup  chopped plum tomato
• 2  tablespoons  rice vinegar
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1  small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4  lime wedges

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle fish evenly with spice mixture. Add fish to pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Combine pineapple and next 5 ingredients (through jalapeño) in a large bowl, stirring gently. Serve pineapple mixture with fish. Garnish with lime wedges.

I received a nice surprise from the people at Quorn this week.  It's a way cool measuring spoon with 3 sides with a different measurement on each side.  Nice way to have less clutter in your kitchen drawer. 

Not that I would know what that's about.

And lastly, a new family member arrived at our house today.  A lime tree!  I'm awfully excited, I think I'm going to call him baby limey.  But that would be stupid, so I'm just going to call it a tree.  I have no idea how long it takes to bear fruit.  But I'll be dreaming of lime pies and possibly margaritas until then!

Paula Deen's Banana Pudding

A friend at work had told me about a banana pudding she had made with Chessman cookies instead of vanilla wafers. When I looked into it, I found out it's a Paula Deen Recipe. Oddly enough, no butter! But we add cream cheese to make up for it. And I made it even a bit naughtier by making extra whipped cream so I could layer it in a trifle bowl.

The kids seemed to like it, and I did too, in spite of the lack of chocolate.

(UPDATE: This banana pudding gets even better after a day. The cookies get all nice and soft, but not soggy; and the flavors really mingle together nicely. AND it's not watery like banana pudding will sometimes get the next day.)

Speaking of kids, my boy child could have eaten this entire piece of salmon by himself I think!

I'm not that great at preparing fish, but salmon was on sale so I wanted to give it a try. I used this recipe also found at food network, and it was pretty easy.

I just feel guilty that I haven't fed this to my son every day of his life...that's how much he liked it!

Fish Tacos

I'm not sure why I wanted to try making fish tacos. I never eat them when we go to Rubio's, but I'd been seeing some recipes floating around I wanted to try.

I found the recipe for the yogurt lime sauce and mango salsa at Love and Olive Oil. They were both really yummy, but I have to admit I didn't use as much jalapeno in the salsa as was called for, cause I'm a really big weenie.

I had to find a different fish recipe than what they used because their's had no breading. Way too healthy! So I turned to my new friend Rich, who seemed to know what he's talking about.

I wasn't sure what kind of fish to use, so I went with tilapia, cause it was cheaper than mahi mahi.

I deep friend them in some canola oil until the were golden brown. Yum-O!

Now for a gratuitous cute dog shot. This is Cody, he's about 80 in people years and loves his new bed.