Mushroom & Quinoa Salad with Tilapia

I cooked!! And it was good!! But seriously. This meal was inspired by the need to use the mushrooms, tomato, and goat cheese that were in the house. Also it's Fish Friday...so tilapia was an obvious choice. And I like quinoa and balsamic. So ta-da! Dinner.

The rest of the day has been fairly uneventful. Errands. Refinishing furniture. Recovering from yesterday's X2 Chest+Back+Balance, ab ripper, and Zumba combo. Like things are sore that I didn't remember could be sore...Yoga-X was much needed this morning. Still, it's been a pretty chill day...and evening. I feel like Friday nights should be more exciting... Anyways, here is your recipe: 

Mushroom & Quinoa Salad with Tilapia

Ingredients:

2 tilapia filets (maybe like 6 oz each), thawed

1/2 cup quinoa

1 lb. sliced mushrooms

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 large tomato, cut into small pieces 

2-3 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Salt & pepper

EVOO

Balsamic vinaigrette 

Directions:

• Set the oven to broil on low. Line a pan with foil and place the tilapia on it. Season with a little salt and pepper. Drizzle with some EVOO. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, have your quinoa cooking (according to the directions on the package...I like to use chicken or vegetable stock for my liquid...more flavor).
• This is also a good time to drizzle your saute pan with EVOO, and cook the mushrooms and garlic. 
• Once the fish, quinoa, and mushrooms are done, you can combine everything in a large bowl. Drizzle on your balsamic. Top with goat cheese. Eat up!

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Last night for dinner, I made broiled tilapia parmesan. This has to be one of the easiest ways to do tilapia. Ever. Not to mention, also one of the tastiest ways. Even the brother enjoyed it and said we could have it again. He was really excited because he thought it was like some cream cheese chicken I had made....but I think we all know I used Greek yogurt. I adapted this from All Recipes. Enjoy!


Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Ingredients:
1 lb tilapia filets 
1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan
2 TBSP butter, softened
1 heaping TBSP Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder

Directions:

• Preheat your oven's broiler to high. Line a pan with foil.
• In a small bowl, mix together everything except the fish. Set aside.
• Arrange filets on a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil for 2-3 minutes. Flip. Repeat. 
• Remove the filets from the oven and cover them with the parmesan cheese mixture. Broil for another 2-4 minutes or until the topping is slightly golden and the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Baked Lime Tilapia with Quick Cilantro Lime Rice

It's finally Friday! Does anyone else feel like this has been a really long week? Apparently, now that I've passed the NCLEX, I'm done house-sitting, and I'm back from traveling, I have more time than I know what to do with. I'm really trying to enjoy this time...my last real summer...before I start working. But, I am a apparently not very good at relaxing and chilling. I've managed to get through seasons 2 & 3 of Downton Abbey (well, I have one episode left), but only while I bake, clean, and craft. Otherwise, my only form of entertainment has been exercising. A little reading too, I guess... 

Dinner tonight was a wildly successful. I was kind of surprised when the brother found the tilapia thawing and said, "You're making tilapia? How did you know? It's like you read my mind!" I feel like he normally complains about fish...so this was weird. Anyways, the tilapia turned out wonderfully flavorful and delicious. Everyone enjoyed it. And it's so simple. On the side, we had your basic steamed veggies, and a quick cilantro lime rice...also tasty. 


Baked Lime Tilapia
Adapted from Bobby's Baked Tilapia

Ingredients:
EVOO
3-4 tilapia filets (6-8 oz each)
1 lime, grated zest and juice
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle/coat the bottom of an oven-safe baking dish with EVOO.
• Combine lime zest and juice along with the salt and pepper in a shallow dish/bowl (pie plate works well). Dip the filets in the mixture and place in the baking dish. Pour the rest of the mixture over the top of the filets in the baking dish.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

Quick Cilantro Lime Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups brown minute rice

2 cups chicken stock (more flavor) or water (less flavor)

Zest and juice of one lime

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 TBSP fresh chopped cilantro 

Directions:

• In a microwave-safe bowl, combine everything except the cilantro.
• Follow the cooking instructions found on the rice box.
• Add in the cilantro. (You can cook it with the cilantro, but it won't have that pretty green color.)

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!

Tilapia in White Wine & Lemon Sauce

Tonight we had a dish that I found on Kraft's website (www.kraftfoods.com) probably a few years ago.  We love this recipe, and I hadn't made it in quite a while, so I brought it back tonight.  You basically coat (lightly) the tilapia filets in flour and cook in a hot pan until golden.  Then, add finely chopped onions...wait around until they are translucent.  Next, you add butter, lemon juice, capers, and white wine (real or cooking, whichever you prefer)...wait until the sauce is "silky." Add some fresh parsley and enjoy!  We had a salad of baby spinach, field greens, mandarin oranges, craisins, and feta on the side.

I'm still fighting with the wall shelf.  On the bright side, I scored FREE ground turkey at the grocery store today!  Not that the wall shelf and ground turkey are related...at all.