Helllloooo future wifey... or current wifey,
Tonight I will share a few of my favorites with you and one of the best secrets around in all of housewife land. Wanna know the secret? Of course you do, nosy neighbor. My secret is FISH. Fish is so great for dinner! It's cheap, tastes great, very versatile, keeps well AND here's the best part.. making it is easy peasy! I never thought fish would be a regulatory dish in my house until I started dating my lovely Jewish boyfriend, Jeremy, who keeps kosher. Well, seeing as we live in Columbia, MO, the grocery stores do not sell Kosher meat. That being said, we must resort to other dishes to meet his needs. I respect this about him and to be honest, I LOVE it because it has helped me discover many different fish and recipes I never thought I would! So there you have it, fish is dish... now here's the scoop.
Now, one of my favorite fish is Salmon, I feel it has great flavor and has many different options for cooking and seasoning, so in this blog you may see many salmon recipes as I try to switch it up in my kitchen to keep things fresh. One of the BEST things about fish is the price, getting fresh fish at the market is REALLY YUMMY and I do suggest treating yourself to it from time to time, but a great staple especially for us girls on a budget, is the fact that fish is sold frozen in bulk, and if you keep your eyes peeled, you can get a nice deal! Sam's Club has great deals on bulk buying, of course, but if don't have a huge family feed just yet, I honestly suggest Aldi. If you have one, going there for a few things will really save you money! They carry mostly cheap products but from time to time, they will surprise you and I always feel it's worth a look.
Tonight's main course comes from Aldi, Sea Queen tilapia fillets! One thing I hate about tilapia is that is really has no flavor, however, the thing I love about it is that it does take on seasoning very well and can turn into a nice dish with little effort. One more thing I just love about tilapia is that a whole fillet is just 110 calories! That is a score if you ask me! I found this Blackened Tilapia Recipe tonight as my fillets were running under cold water to thaw! I didn't have the smoked paprika or the cumin that the recipe called for so I substituted chili powder and it turned out great! I just mixed all the seasoning in a big bowl (I have square popcorn bowls that I got in the $1 isle at Target), and laid my two fillets in the seasoning and then fliped them covering all of the fillet, then threw it in the skillet for about 3-4 minutes on each side. It says cook on a medium to high heast so I chose an 8 but every oven is different.
While my tilapia fillets were on the skillet I put my microwavable steam-in-a-bag broccoli cuts in for 5 minutes. Then I grabbed my spices for the broccoli seasoning. When I was a kid I LOVED cheese sauce on my broccoli but as I got older I really outgrew it, I really just prefer a nice lite butter or garlic flavor to my broccoli, plus it's MUCH healthier. For this, I follow exactly as the recipe says but I had no Thyme when I fist made this so I had to use an Italian Seasoning blend, any will do. I found that I really enjoyed the extra zing it gave so tonight when I did this recipe again, I used thyme AND my handy dandy Italian Herb Grinder, which is a little pricey but I feel it is so simple, handy, goes with everything, and lasts a long time, so I deem it worth it! I mix up my broccoli seasonings in a teacup to keep it simple & after adding the exact measurements as that calls for, I just do about three twists of my Herb Grinder and that does the trick. (If you don't have a grinder but just an Herb mix, I'd say about a 1/2 tsp will do. Then I add the butter in & when the broccoli is finished steaming, I pull it out and put the seasoning in the microwave for about 40 seconds depending on your microwave so that the butter can melt and the flavors can mix. While that's melting together I put my broccoli in a bowl and after the seasonings are ready I just pour over-top and serve.
The tilapia should be flipped and ready at this point. Honestly by the time your broccoli dings, your tilapia should be plate ready. Like I said, about 3 minutes on each side. Now that your broccoli and tilapia is done, you may plate your third side dish if you so chose to have one. Tonight, we chose sweet potato fries which are simply the Ore-Ida frozen ones. I had placed those on a pizza pan (one with holes in the bottom so that the fries gain a little crisp while baking) which I had sprayed with Pam and added before I even started season mix for the fish. They took exactly 16 minutes and were ready right when all else was. A garlic or butter flavored rice, or maybe rosemary potatoes would make a great side as well. Hope you all have found this helpful, useful & simply delicious. It made a wonderful summer dish for me, I wish the same for you.
Tastefully yours,
Housewife Barbie
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