Salsa Tuna Skillet

It's not much to look at (and it doesn't help that I'm currently using an iPhone 4 to take pictures…) but this salsa tuna skillet is super tasty and super fast and easy to make. It's become a go-to for me.

I tried this one night after a work friend suggested it. I was skeptical. Tuna is not generally my thing. But this girl always brings food that looks and smells good, so I went for it. 

What you need:

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

A little butter or EVOO for sautéing 

2 cans of tuna, drained

Salsa

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

How to do it:

Heat up a large skillet with some butter or EVOO. Place the onions and garlic in the pan and sauté to your heart's desire. Add the tuna, salsa, and spices (to taste). Sauté until everything is warm. Serve over brown rice, couscous, or quinoa. 

Easy, cheap, and delicious. It's about 2-3 servings…although, you could probably make it 4. I just eat a lot!

Sweet Italian Sausage Pasta Toss

This was kind of one of those deals where I was trying to use up things we already had. It worked out really well! It's kind of a mishmash, but quite tasty. I adapted my recipe from Hostess with the Mostess. It's a great, simple recipe to play with. Pick your sausage. Pick your Pasta. Pick your veggies. I ended up using turkey and chicken sausage because we had about 8 oz of each. I used Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta shells (8 oz box). I used zucchini and a mixture of sweet bell peppers. Delish. And also colorful. 

Sweet Italian Sausage Pasta Toss

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet Italian sausage links
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup white wine (or chicken broth)
2 zucchini, sliced and quartered 
2 sweet bell peppers (I used 1 whole red, and half each of yellow and orange), chopped
1 TBSP parsley
1 TBSP basil
Salt & pepper to taste
8-12 oz pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Directions:

• Over medium heat (and in a large skillet...mine is a 6 qt), brown the sausage on all sides. Slice into 1/4" thick rounds and set aside. Saute the chopped onion in the remaining grease and juices from the sausage. After 5 minutes, add the minced garlic and saute another 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
• Deglaze the skillet with white wine or chicken broth (or combination). Add the sausage back into the skillet, along with the vegetables and seasonings. Cook until the veggies are tender. Stir in the pasta. That is all! 

I topped it off with a little freshly grated mozzarella! Parm would also be good. 

Enjoy!

Skillet Tilapia Fillets with Cilantro Butter

Yesterday, my brother put in an odd request to have tilapia for dinner.  I was quite thrilled because, I for one, really love to eat fish.  My family typically favors chicken/beef/pork, but I'm a fish person.  (Although, I do love a good steak too.)  Anyways, I was excited that I had an opportunity to make tilapia and not get any complaints from the brother.  I found this recipe on Pinterest.  Surprise, huh?!  It's actually a thing on MyRecipies, "7 Ways to Cook Tilapia."  A great thing to have handy, since I'm prone to buying the jumbo bags of tilapia.  I made the Skillet Fillets with Cilantro Butter because I had all the ingredients, and really needed to use up the rest of the cilantro from the other night.  (I really need to start an herb garden, so I can just get what I want, when I want.)  This was a super quick, easy dinner with steam-in-the-bag veggies on the side!  (Also, it was very tasty.  Some people might consider it spicy, but I'm not one of them.)

Skillet Fillets with Cilantro Butter

(If you look at the original, you'll notice I've doubled the spices! You've been warned.) 

For the tilapia:

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

6 (4-oz) tilapia filets 

Cooking spray

1 lemon (quartered) 

Combine the spices and sprinkle (or rub) over both sides of fish.  Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat skillet with cooking spray.  Also spray both sides of the fish and place in skillet.  Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily or reaches 145ish degrees.  Place on serving tray or plate and squeeze on some lemon juice! 

For the cilantro butter:

2 TBSP butter, softened

2 TBSP cilantro, finely chopped

Grated rind from 1 lemon (grate before you quarter & squeeze it!)

1/4-1/2 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well blended.  Serve with fish!