GINGER AND CILANTRO BAKED TILAPIA

My favorite fish is tilapia. I am always looking for new tilapia recipes when I came across one on Pinterest.com that just blew my mind away! This recipe is not only one that you must try, but I promise it will end up being one you will make over and over again!

When I first decided to make this dish I was a little reluctant since it called for 'ginger' and I am not too familiar with cooking with that ingredient. I decided to go for the meal anyway just because it looked so great in the picture and I had a few tilapias just waiting to be cooked!

(The original recipe came from http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/main-dish/recipe-ginger-and-cilantro-baked-tilapia-024737)

My version of this amazing recipe is as follows... plus as I always say... when you find a great recipe WRITE IT DOWN! you never know when/if a website might disappear.

GINGER AND CILANTRO BAKED TILAPIA
serves 2, or 1 with leftovers

2 large fillets (I use the frozen packaged kind from Kroger or WalMart)
1 jalapeno pepper (this gives it the perfect amount of spicy!)
3 garlic cloves (I had actually used a 1/3 cup amount bc I misread the recipe and it still turned out great!)
1 inch grated ginger (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonney that I wouldnt mind drinking the rest later)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Green onions, chopped for garnish
Extra cilantro, to garnish

Heat the oven to 475F. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.

Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a small food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, and cilantro. Whir unitl blended. Pour the sauce over the fish, rubbing it in a little. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through.

Serve immediately over brown rice, garnished with chives and cilantro.

I served this meal on a bed of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil. Which was actually my firs time cooking Uncle Ben's rice and it was so great! The rice alone is just so full of flavor, soft, moist, a perfect fit for this entree.
I also prepared Sauteed Garlic Spinach as another side. I always love this side dish.

Upon eating the meal I was very nervous because I forgot to buy a back-up meal. (I always prepare myself!) But this meal was spot on amazing. It blew my mind how jam-packed full of flavor this fish had. Every bite was another treat for my taste-buds and I was very excited about my extra fish I had prepared. NOW I HAD A GREAT LUNCH FOR TOMORROW! I had the leftovers the next day and again, amazing. I even reheated it in the microwave which is something I try not to do very often.

This recipe is def going to be one for the books! I shared it with my sister-in-law who plans on making this dish as well. I will update this entry when I find out her opinion of it!

Let me know if you try this recipe! And when you do share your pics and comments!

HAPPY EATING!

she's a VEGAN-izer.

So I have these 2 incredible friends (Sarah and Ryan Patterson) who have recently decided to go Vegan. I myself am too much in love with Milk, eggs, meat, butter, seafood, etc. to ever go vegan. So because of my lack of ever wanting to be vegan I have never ever made a Vegan meal in my life. Well Sarah & Ryan were in town and I decided to make us a Vegan meal. I was very weary of the idea, I was even trying to come up with some backup meal (you know when you burn dinner you order pizza...?) but pizza has cheese and that is not vegan. so I couldn't even think of a backup meal... so this dinner had to be good!

I went to Kroger and bought a bunch of veggies. I mean things I have never bought, cooked, or even thought of making. Afterwards I looked online for eggplant ideas. I have cooked eggplant before and knew that about "sweating" them but the dishes I have made before were vegetarian, not vegan. The recipes online called for items I have never heard of, time constraints that I didn't have, and to be honest, I wanted to use what I already had... so long story short, I just decided to just throw something together. Then I tried to find vegan stuffed mushrooms. I actually found a recipe online that looked easy, had great reviews, and I had all the items required. (That recipe is at: http://www.veganpiggy.com/2010/05/vegan-stuffed-mushrooms.html) and my side dish I had already thought up. It was time to get busy in the kitchen!

So my menu ended up being Baked eggplant with spinach, tomato sauce, topped with sprouts; stuffed mushrooms; and a vegetable medley side dish. When I make this next comment I am not trying to be cocky whatsoever about my cooking skills but DANG! if being vegan taste like this then sign me up! haha Seriously... this meal was stellar. It was so good in fact that I made it again for lunch and have even considered trying to go vegan just because its a healthier choice. have I officially gone mad??

Stuffed Mushrooms:
the recipe is under the link above. but since I didn't use all 1.5lbs I will go ahead and list my recipe. besides, who knows if that recipe will somehow get lost in the future. and this recipe is one you def don't want to lose!

6 baby portobello mushrooms (2 for each person, although they were so good that I probably should have made more!)
bread crumbs (I used whole wheat ones... and I didn't measure... I just kind of added what I felt looked good)
extra virgin olive oil (again, sorry, I just don't measure things)
I took my red onion, chopped up about 1/5 of it
I used more garlic since I LOVE garlic... I actually used 3 cloves (1 pressed, 1 chopped, 1 sliced)
sea salt (didn't measure just sprinkled it)
dried parsley (not fresh only because I didn't have it and again, not exact measure)
dried basil (no exact measure again)
(on the parsley and basil I just sprinkle what I think looks good... you will see on most of my recipes I just don't measure things... I apologize if it is an inconvenience)

Preheat oven 375 F.

Remove stems from mushroom caps and chop them up and set aside.
Sautee chopped up red onion and garlic with olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes.
Add chopped mushroom stems, salt, basil, parsley, and bread crumbs and stir together in the skillet for about 2-3 minutes.
(be sure not to add too much bread crumbs or they will be dry... add slowly and discreetly)
Bake for 30-45 minutes, keep on eye that they don't get too brown. Crispy on top is good!


BAKED EGGPLANT:

1 medium eggplant (sliced lengthway 1/4 inch and then "sweated" them for an hour- sweated will be described later)
2 tomatoes sliced 1/5 inch- you can slice them however large or small you want
1/2 bundle of fresh spinach sauteed with sprinkle of salt (very lite on the salt!!)
1- 8oz can of Hunt's tomato sauce
dried basil (just a few sprinkles)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of Nature's Seasoning (the measurement is an educated guess of what I think I used)
spicy sprouts
bread crumbs
extra olive oil (or water)

Preheat oven 375 F

On medium heat stir together your 8oz can of tomato sauce, basil, bay leaf, and nature's seasoning for 5 minutes.
Lower the heat to Lo and let it simmer while you work on other parts of your menu.

I took my already "sweated" eggplants and patted them dry with a paper towel.
I used extra virgin olive oil and dipped them in that and then dipped them in the bread crumbs.
I placed them on a non-stick cooking tray and placed them in the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes take out the eggplant and add your tomato, spinach, a spoonful of tomato sauce (you don't need too much), and top with some spicy sprouts.

Place in the oven for 30-45 minutes.

WHAT IS "SWEATING" AN EGGPLANT?

After cutting up your eggplant place each slice on a paper towel and add sea salt to both sides. Let this sit for about an hour. You will notice it to sweat (i.e. a watery discharge will appear). This makes the eggplant taste less bitter and your meal will be even more fantastic. About 1/2way through I flip them over onto new paper towels.
You can see how other people do it online by googling it.



VEGETABLE MEDLEY:

1 squash (sliced)
1 zucchini (sliced)
1/2 head of broccoli crowns
extra virgin olive oil (or water)
7spice seasoning (sprinkle in a nice amount, not too little, not too much) -sorry for no exact measurement
(I added asparagus the next day.... just 4 of them... you can use whatever veggies you prefer)

On lo-med heat stir in all of the ingredients.
I place a lid on top and watch it to stir it around.
This should be made last and at the very end. Shouldn't need to be cooked for more than 7 minutes. tops.

ENJOY THE MEAL!

Let me know what you think!!!

try broccolini! Eat Healthy less than $10

So JP and I had another steak dinner.
We had another bone-in ribeye left... this one was only $5.58! CHEAP!
This meal only takes about 20 minutes tops including prep time.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THIS MEAL:
bone in ribeye ($5.58 depending on how much it weighs. you can use any steak!)
7spice
salt and pepper
bundle of broccolini ($2.89)-- this is not broccoli. its broccoliNI
3-4 garlic cloves (you should still have some leftover or 2/$1)
1/4 of a red onion
2T butter
Morton Natures Seasoning (I use this stuff alot! Im not sure of the price and Im sorry about that... it shouldnt be more than $3 and it truly is an amazing seasoning for so many meals as you will see in future meals!)


The first thing I did to prepare for this meal was chop, slice and dice the garlic for the broccolini.
I put in 1T of butter in the sautee pan along with the garlic and sprinkled the Morton Nature Seasoning along in there as well before placing the broccolini in.
I allow the butter to melt and sit with the garlic and seasoning on low heat.
While the butter is melting is when you start the gas grill and let it preheat for about 5 minutes.

We seasoned it the same with the 7Spice ($4.99 at Kroger or Saltgrass) and we also have a salt and pepper mix we add as well. yum.

Once the ribeyes are on the grill we cook it for 4 minutes on each side for a medium rare. This isnt a consistent time since steaks are sometimes super thick or thin. ya know?

Once the ribeyes are flipped is when I turn the heat up to medium add another Tablespoon (T) of butter and put a lid on the pan.
While this is cooking I cut my red onion up. We cut about 1 inch pieces.
I add the onion in the last 2 minutes. Broccolini only needs about 5 minutes to cook and I really enjoy the crunch and flavor of the red onion with broccolini. yum :)

The time the ribeye is done is when the broccolini is done and your meal is ready.
DONT FORGET THE MILK :)

and yes... this may seem really quick and easy... and well... IT IS!

Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

DONT FORGET TO COMMENT. TAKE THE POLL AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. AND FOLLOW ME!

EAT HEALTHY FOR LESS THAN $8

So I got off work tonight and decided to go to HEB to find dinner.
I didnt want to spend that much money since I didnt make that much mula tonight, so I went with fresh spinach ($1.48), salmon ($4.99), and garlic(2/$1).
The meal I made was sauteed garlic spinach, left over mashed potatoes, and a traditional salmon.

Here's what you need:
Tablespoon of olive oil
sprinkle of salt
fresh spinach (or you can get the bagged baby spinach($2.99)
3-4 garlic cloves per person
salmon
foil

First thing I do for this meal is take some cloves of garlic and chop, slice, and dice them. Since this was a meal for one, I only used 3-4 cloves... But if youre cooking for more than 1, i would use up to 8 cloves... it really depends on how much you love garlic.
So I set the stove on low/medium and place a sautee pan on the stove with some olive oil.
As the garlic is chopped, sliced, and diced I add them to the olive oil.
I do this first so that the garlic taste can sit in the olive oil. Its awesome.
I have a gas grill so I take my salmon put it in the foil and place it on the grill.
Salmon doesnt need to cook too long; if you cook salmom too long, it will dry out.
Once the salmon is on the grill, I add the fresh spinach to the olive oil and garlic.
You must move the spinach around or else it wont all cook.
This was my first time to cook fresh spinach instead of the bagged baby spinach... the difference is (1) you must for sure rinse, rinse, rinse the fresh spinach! It is for sure fresh and so its dirty! Rinse it and then rinse some more. (2) baby spinach wilts a ton and the fresh spinach is much, much larger and therefore has more texture. i love it a lot more. plus, its cheaper! :)
Sprinkle some salt over the spinach once you add it to the pan... you really dont need much salt at all.
By the time the spinach is cooking all the way, the salmon should be finished as well (5-7 minutes)
So take the salmon off the grill, take it out of the foil, add the spinach to the plate and viola... dinner is served!

I had leftover mashed potatoes and so I added that to my meal. One thing i have learned is a great thing to do is take a leftover vegetable and add it to a freshly made meal... that way leftovers arent completely awful! haha

I had taken more pictures of this meal to post; however, I accidently deleted them when uploading the pictures. yah. it wont happen again! promise :)

Happy Eating,
Ava Chino

AND DONT FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
IF YOU HAVE ANY MEAL IDEAS LET ME KNOW!
IF YOU HAVE RECIPES SEND THEM MY WAY!
THANKS! :)