Blackened Tilapia Baja Tacos

I love fish, but don't think to make it very often! It's silly, considering how healthy and delicious it is, not to mention how quick it cooks. Fish is the perfect summertime fare. A couple weeks ago, I had a mini "day-cation" with my best friend in Sandusky, OH (yeah Cedar Point!). If you follow me on instagram, you may have seen that we had the most AH-mazing fish tacos while we were there. They were seriously stellar. Once I got home, I found myself yearning for more, and that's when I remembered I had some frozen tilapia hanging out in the back of my freezer. These tacos did not disappoint! Honestly, the only thing I didn't like were the tortillas I bought. I don't have the desire to make them from scratch, and all the corn tortillas I buy at the store taste like cardboard (these were from Trader Joe's…ah well). I think I'll just go with flour tortillas next time. Problem solved!

Blackened Tilapia Baja Tacos

Ingredients

1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt (or reduced-fat sour cream, or plain greek yogurt)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped

1 cup thinly sliced white onion

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

4 (6 ounce) tilapia fillets

Cooking spray (or 1 tablespoon canola oil)

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas (I'm going with flour next time..can't seem to find decent corn tortillas!)

1/2 ripe peeled avocado, thinly sliced

Lime wedges, to garnish (optional)

Directions

Combine first four ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Combine jalapeño sauce and onion in a small bowl.

Combine paprika and next six ingredients (through ground red pepper), and sprinkle evenly over both sides of the fish. Spray a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan, and cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish, onion mixture, and avocado evenly among tortillas. Serve with lime wedges.

Recipe source: adapted from Cooking Light, March 2011

Cajun Jambalaya

That there jambalaya is what I call comfort food. It's warm, spicy, filling, and most importantly, delicious. My sister uses this recipe all the time (hi Becca!), and always sends me pictures, making me incredibly jealous. I'm pretty sure it's one of her favorite things to make, especially when she's trying to impress. I've been wanting to try it for a while, but buying all the ingredients at once (especially the meat and fish) can be pricey for only one meal. As fate would have it, I found a 2 lb. bag of extra large red Argentinian shrimp on sale for $8.99, and almost always have chicken and andouille (so I can make gumbo of course).

Because I was so anxious to dig right in, the bowl I ate was more like a risotto (num), but once it cooled a little bit, the rice absorbed most of the liquid. It made about four servings, so the only thing I would do differently next time is double the recipe!

Cajun Jambalaya

Ingredients

12 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
4 ounces chicken, diced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning, recipe follows
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3/4 cup rice
3 cups chicken stock
5 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced
Salt and pepper

File powder (optional)

Directions

In a medium size bowl combine shrimp, chicken, and Creole seasoning, and work in seasoning well. 

 

In a large saucepan heat oil over high heat with onion, pepper and celery, 3 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauces. Stir in rice and slowly add broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs some of the liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When rice is just tender add shrimp and chicken mixture and sausage. Cook until meat is done, about 10 minutes more. Season to taste with salt, pepper and file powder

 

Emerill's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning aka "Bayou Blast"

Ingredients

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

 

Directions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly. 

Yields: 2/3 cup. It's great on fish or chicken, and you can use it in gumbo as well!

Recipe Source: adapted from Emeril Lagasse's recipe via Food Network

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

I cherish the days I have all to myself. I love my boyfriend, and our roommate is also pretty great, but I also love watching my chick flicks, using said bf's computer, playing my flute in the living room, and eating what I want to eat. I didn't really have any cooking plans, and lost track of time piddling on Chris' computer when I noticed it was already 1:30pm. All of a sudden, I was starving and needed something to eat that was easy and super quick.

It quickly occurred to me that I had a smallish bag of shrimp in the freezer. Chris got really sick off of some shrimp earlier this year and has understandably had a slight aversion to it ever since. Sure, he enjoyed some soup I made that had shrimp in it, but if given another choice, he'll skip the shrimp.

It's really too bad, because this shrimp is flavorful and delicious. I was also pumped that I didn't have to run to the store for anything, so I could stay in my PJ's...another loner day ritual.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil to the pan, and when hot, add the shrimp. Season with salt and pepper. When the shrimp is cooked on one side, about 2 minutes, turn over and add garlic. Sauté another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook. Remove from heat. Squeeze lime all over shrimp and toss with cilantro. Serve hot.

Brazilian Shrimp Soup

Winter is still in full blast here in Beijing. It's dry, cold, windy, and all I want to do is stay indoors until winter goes away. I even went to weather.com and looked at the temperature averages for March. It will most likely be ten degrees warmer by the end of the month, in case you're wondering...yay. For now, I'll continue to hibernate in our warm apartment, on the couch, under a blanket, with a nice bowl of steamy hot soup in my lap. 

This soup was "souper" (heh..had to do it). Seriously though, it was delicious. Before making it, I was a little worried about the addition of coconut milk. I adore coconut, but I much prefer it in sweets then in savory dishes. Nevertheless, I gave this a go, and thought the addition of coconut was wonderful. It was very subtle, and worked great with the other flavors. 

The picture at the top of this post is some of the leftovers the next day. When we ate it for dinner the night before, it was much more soupy (pictured below), and honestly, a whole lot better. Sadly, I wasn't slurping my bowl clean as I did the night before. Soup usually tastes better the next day, but this was just a little off. If you plan on making this, try and make just enough (this recipe yielded about 6-8 servings).

The original recipe page says that in Brazil, they would add okra to this soup, but because this recipe is already so satisfyingly thick, there's no need. I was very tempted to add the okra, but during the last second, decided not to. Fresh from the pot, it really is the perfect consistency. If you don't have shrimp, you could also add a pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (about three), cut crosswise into quarter-inch strips. The cooking time is the same. Bottom line: this soup was outstanding, and I'll definitely be making it again, though only enough for one meal. 

Brazilian Shrimp Soup

Seen on several cooking blogs, all adapted from Food and Wine

Ingredients

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 onion, chopped (I used red)

1 green bell pepper (I used yellow)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup long grain rice

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (I used one whole 15 ounce can diced tomatoes)

5 cups water

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, shelled

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped

Directions

In a large pot, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the rice, red-pepper flakes, salt, tomatoes, and water to the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the rice is almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir the coconut milk into the soup. Bring back to a simmer and then stir in the shrimp. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp are just done, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the black pepper, lemon juice, and parsley or cilantro.