Fish with Fruit Salsa

FISH WITH FRUIT SALSA

2 fish filets (Tilapia, Orange Roughy, Mahi Mahi are good ones)
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Fruit Salsa

Salt and pepper the fish filets. Cook fish in olive oil over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes on each side until done. Add fruit salsa and cook until just heated through.

Fruit Salsa:

diced pineapple
diced mango
diced tomato
diced red onion
diced red bell pepper
minced jalapeno
chopped fresh cilantro
salt
pepper
balsamic vinegar
lime juice

Mix all ingredients in desired proportions.

Yield: 2 servings

Sorry for the lack of measurements! I just put it together, it's probably different every time.

Honey Mustard Pecan Crusted Fish

HONEY MUSTARD PECAN CRUSTED FISH
recipe adapted from One Lovely Life

2 fish fillets, patted dry (I used Tilapia)
2 tablespoons honey Dijon mustard (French’s)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 teaspoon salt
olive oil, for drizzling

In a small bowl, combine honey mustard and mayonnaise until smooth. In a shallow bowl or plate, combine panko, pecans, parmesan, and salt.

Brush honey mustard mixture over the top of each fillet and dip (honey mustard side down) into the bread crumb mixture to coat (just the one side). Place fillets in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Yield: 2 servings

That's my squash casserole in the background.

Fish with Corn & Black Beans

FISH WITH CORN & BLACK BEANS
adapted from Pink Parsley

1 (16 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons pureed chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, divided (see tip in this post)
2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
salt and pepper
4 skinless white fish fillets (6 to 8 oz each), 1-inch thick
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, both onions, half of cilantro, orange juice, 1 teaspoon chipotle puree, 1 teaspoon garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Pat the fish dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Using a fork, mix together the butter, 1 teaspoon chipotle puree, orange zest and 1 teaspoon garlic in a small bowl until well-combined. Set aside.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Transfer the corn and bean mixture to the dish. Lay the fish pieces on top. Spread butter mixture over the fish. Cover dish with foil. Bake at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.

Notes:

• I chose to broil the dish for about 5 minutes at the end in order to brown the fish a little.



• I used an 11 x 9 x 2 dish since I only used 2 pieces of fish.



• Original recipe cooked each piece of fish in individual foil packets, I made it easy on myself and used a casserole dish.



• I used Tilapia Loins (from the frozen section at Costco).

Acapulco Shrimp Cocktail and Fish Tacos

So, I wanted a special side dish to go with my Fish Tacos... I usually serve black beans with them, but wasn't in the mood for that this time. I loooooovvvvvve avocados, so when I ran across this recipe, I knew I would love it. And I did!

ACAPULCO SHRIMP COCKTAIL
recipe found at What's Cookin Chicago?

1 pound cooked shrimp
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 ripe avocado, diced

Place the shrimp in a large bowl and add the lime juice.

In a small bowl, mix the ketchup, hot sauce, Worcestershire, onion and cilantro. Mix well; then pour over shrimp and stir.

Carefully fold in the diced avocado. Divide into 4 to 6 serving dishes.

You can find the recipe for my Fish Tacos here.

By the way, I am back to school tomorrow. That means less cooking and posting here, but I'll give it my best effort.

Fish Tacos and Tomato Avocado Salad

I originally posted this back in February, but it's one of our favorites, so here it is again with a little tomato avocado salad on the side. Follow the link to the recipe.



Salad consists of tomato slices, avocado and a little cilantro sprinkled on top. I topped mine with a little salsa ranch dressing, but the chipotle ranch made for the tacos is good, too.

Fish Tacos

I didn't realize when I started posting recipes this week that it was going to be Mexican week. So, I guess this is third in the series. I actually made the last two recipes and this one over about two weeks time.

FISH TACOS

1 box (6 pieces) crunchy breaded fish fillets (don't use battered fish, crunchy breaded is best)

6 small flour tortillas (fajita size)
Chipotle Ranch dressing (recipe below)
Tropical Slaw (recipe below)
pico de gallo

Cook fish according to package directions.

(I used Gorton's Southern Fried country style crunchy breaded fish fillets this time.)

Spread dressing on each of the six flour tortillas. Add one piece of fish to each tortilla. Top with tropical slaw and pico de gallo. Fold or wrap tortillas.

Chipotle Ranch Dressing:

1/2 cup bottled Ranch dressing mix
1 canned chipotle chile, seeds removed, finely chopped
small amount adobo sauce from canned chipotles

Mix all ingredients well.

(Naturally, you can substitute this with Newman's Own Southwest dressing or Hidden Valley Ranch spicy ranch.)

Tropical Slaw:

2 cups shredded cole slaw mix
1/2 cup chopped mandarin oranges
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients. Use just enough mayonnaise to barely coat the slaw.

Instead of pico de gallo, I just mixed diced tomatoes, onions and chopped cilantro.

Yield: 6 tacos

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon

Salmon's not really my favorite fish, but this spice rub makes it so much better.

That's sort of a healthy looking meal there, isn't it?

SMOKED PAPRIKA ROASTED SALMON

1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, divided
4 salmon fillets
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix orange juice and 1 teaspoon thyme in a small bowl. Place salmon in a large Ziploc bag. Add marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate for at least one hour or longer for extra flavor.

Mix brown sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, orange peel, remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and salt in a small bowl. Remove salmon from marinade. Place on a greased foil lined baking pan. Discard remaining marinade. Rub top of salmon evenly with smoked paprika mixture.

Roast salmon in preheated 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Yield: 4

Lazy Mango Salsa with Fish

Since we are trying to save money, I like to make Saturday night's dinner a little more special than a weekday. But, I had a sore throat and wasn't feeling really good last night, so I did this the lazy way.

I have a recipe for a mango/pineapple salsa that has an ingredient list about a mile long. I just couldn't manage that last night. So, I improvised and it actually turned out to be very tasty.



I diced up a mango and mixed it with Newman's Own pineapple salsa. I warmed it a little and served it over the fish. For the fish, I just salt and pepper it and saute in a little oil.

So much easier than the fresh mango/pineapple salsa.

Pecan Crusted Fish

PECAN CRUSTED FISH

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 1/2 pounds fish fillets (Tilapia is good)

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 cup canola oil

Chop pecans finely (like coarse bread crumbs); combine with bread crumbs in medium bowl. Place flour in second medium bowl. Blend milk and egg together in third medium bowl. Preheat large sauté pan on medium 1–2 minutes. Sprinkle both sides of fish with seasoned salt. Dip fillets in flour (coating both sides) then dip into egg mixture (allowing excess to drip off). Finally, dip into pecan mixture. Place oil in pan; swirl to coat. Add fish and cook 2–3 minutes on each side or until golden.

Yield: 4 servings

Use a thinner fish like tilapia, the pecans can burn if you cook it much longer than 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Baked Fish w/ Parmesan-Sour Cream Sauce

This is one of those recipes that just comes out right every time. It's so easy, yet so good. Use any kind of white fish that you like. I used orange roughy this time.




BAKED FISH WITH PARMESAN-SOUR CREAM SAUCE

2 halibut, orange roughy or tilapia fillets
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Place fillets in a lightly greased baking dish.

Stir together sour cream, cheese and salt/pepper to taste; spread mixture evenly over fillets. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and drizzle with butter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 to 35 minutes (depends on thickness of fish) or until fish flakes with a fork.

Yield: 2 servings

Crunchy Baked Asian Fish

I promise, this will taste better than it looks. The Panko crumbs are very crispy, they just don't get brown like you would expect. I used Snapper this time (bought it frozen at Publix), but use any fish you like. I've used Tilapia in the past, I think Salmon would be good, too.

Remember, you can find the Hoisin sauce in the Asian section of any grocery store.

CRUNCHY BAKED ASIAN FISH

non-stick cooking spray
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
1 1/2 cups Japanese Panko bread crumbs
4 fish fillets

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Stir together mustard and Hoisin sauce. Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Brush both sides of fish fillets with mustard mixture. Coat both sides of fish fillets with bread crumbs. Place fillets on baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until fish is flaky.

Yield: 4 servings

Product of the Day - Caribbean Jerk seasoning

Let's pretend we are back in Jamaica.....

Actually this is nothing like the Jerk seasoning that I've had in Jamaica, but I really, really like it! I guess you could say it has been Americanized.

It's a dry seasoning mix that I use mostly on fish and shrimp. It would be great on pork or chicken as well. I just sprinkle it on before sauteing in a little oil.

Label ingredients: Sugar, red pepper, thyme, allspice, salt, onion, turmeric. (I'll have to look that one up.)

It's just spicy enough for me, not too spicy for those that don't like spicy, might not be spicy enough for those who do.

Turmeric:

1 : an Indian perennial herb (Curcuma longa syn. C. domestica) of the ginger family with a large aromatic yellow rhizome
2 : the boiled, dried, and usually ground rhizome of the turmeric plant used as a coloring agent, a flavoring, or a stimulant

Stimulant???!!!