Brazilian Style Fish Stew

Typically, when we buy fish, we tend to make the same three meals over and over again: fish fried rice, fried fish, or breaded and flavored fish with vegetables. It doesn't matter what kind of fish it is, they always end up in one of these three entrees. So, we decided to try something different when we got a great deal for a big bag of small Tilapia fillets. And, what do you do when you want to try a new recipe? You go to Pinterest. As we were scrolling down, we found this very unique looking recipe and wanted to make a creation based on it.

** Original idea --> Brazilian Fish Stew **

But, since knowing it was Brazilian, and knowing it would be soupy, I adjusted to kind of dilute the same amount of spices (to make it palatable for me) and make it a thicker stew. (Although Justin would've preferred it to be more soupy with more spices.)

Ingredients

3-4 Tilapia fillets

5 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp cumin

1 1/2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp pepper

1 small onion

3 medium to large bell peppers (we used 2 medium green and 1 large red)

1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes

1 3/4 - 2 cups of almond milk (depending on how soupy you want it)

1-2 cups of cooked orzo (depending on how stew-y you want it)

2 tbsp cilantro

Directions

1) Cute the Tilapia into chunks. In a bowl, mix the lemon and lime juices with the cumin, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Marinate the Tilapia in the mix. Put in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

2) Chop up the vegetables. In a small frying pan, saute the onions until they get soft and a little golden-brown. Add in the peppers for about 3-5 minutes.

3) In a stew pot, pour the softly sauteed vegetables, the marinated fish, and the rest of the ingredients (don't drain the tomatoes). Cook on medium high for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Stir cilantro, lower the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook and occasionally stir for about 10 minutes. The fish will cook thoroughly in the stew. 

4) Top with some sour cream, squeezed lime juice or lime wedges, and cilantro according to taste.

Again, make soupy or stew-y according to your preference. I liked the idea of orzo in it to give it body and soak in some of the spice and liquid. But, like I mentioned, Justin would've preferred it without the orzo and a bit more soupy. But, it was a really nice taste! I liked it a lot!

Have you ever made any type of Brazilian food? Have you ever made fish into a soup or stew?

Cilantro-Lime Fish Tacos

I love cilantro. Did you know that? I also love cilantro-lime dressing! Seriously! Any variation of it: Costa Vida, Cafe Rio, homemade....one of my favorite meals is sweet pulled pork barbacoa salad with cilantro-lime dressing. But, I've also been in the mood for fish tacos...and the two flavors just seemed to meld perfectly in my mind. So, I decided to make us some cilantro-lime fish tacos!

Ingredients

For Fish Tacos

2 white fish fillets

lemon juice

lime juice

1/2 cup flour

Boston seafood seasoning

lemon pepper

cilantro

For Cilantro-Lime Dressing

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

2.5 tbsp lime juice

dash of garlic

1 tsp white wine vinegar

2 tsp cilantro

Directions

1) In a small mixing bowl, pour all the ingredients for the cilantro-lime dressing and mix. You may want to adjust the amount of lime juice and or cilantro according to your taste. Set aside in the fridge.

2) Cut the fish fillets into bite-size rectangles. In a small mixing bowl, mix the flour, cilantro, lemon pepper, and seasoning. Again, you can adjust for taste. In another small mixing bowl, mix the lemon juice and lime juice, enough that you can soak the fish pieces in.

3) After letting the fish pieces soak in the juice for a few minutes, dump them in the breading mix and make sure they get fully coated.

4) Pour some vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat it on medium high. When the oil is heated, gently place the fish pieces in it. Make sure all sides are a golden color before taking them out.

5) Serve with hard taco shells and whatever other taco condiments you like (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cheese) and pour the dressing on top.

I was so happy the way these turned out visually and taste-wise. It was much easier to make these than I expected, and I loved the cool, refreshing, non-spicy taste. I like spice, but sometimes it's nice to have a different flavor with tacos. Perfect for ending summer with!

What do you like to pair cilantro with?

Lemon-Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia

I love fish, and I love lemon! I first made this recipe for Justin more than two years ago when we were just dating. He loved it then and he loved it now!

Ingredients

2 tilapia fillets

1 c rice

1/4 c mayo

1 1/3 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 c bread crumbs

1/4 c parmesan

1 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

dash of garlic salt

dash of herbs province

dash of rice seasoning (for the rice)

squirt of lemon juice (for the rice)

Steps

1) Start cooking the rice and preheat the oven to 350*.

2) Mix the mayo and the lemon juice together.

3) In a separate container, mix the bread crumbs, parmesan, lemon pepper, herbs province, and garlic salt together.

 

4) Spread the mayo-lemon mix over both sides of the tilapia.

5) Push the tilapia down onto the breading. Flip, and do the same.

6) Put the fillets on an ungreased cooking sheet.

7) Cook for 10 minutes, then flip and cook another 10 minutes.

8) Put the squirts of lemon juice and the rice seasoning in the rice.

9) Serve the fish on top of the rice and enjoy!

Check out this awesome gal!

Balsamic Tilapia

I think I'm a little obsessed with balsamic vinegar. The tang, the tart. Oh, I love it! I even mentioned to my 9th graders how I drench, not drizzle, balsamic vinegar on my pasta and my chicken and salads.

So, we decided to soak some tilapia (one of our favorite fish) in it!

Mmmm!

Ingredients

2 tilapia filets

spinach

1 cup of medium shells

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

2 carrots

sage

basil

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350*.

2) Boil the pasta and drain when done. (This can be done as you follow the rest of the steps.)

3) Put filets in a glass cooking pan

4) Baste each side of the tilapia with the balsamic vinegar

5) Sprinkle both sides with sage and basil

6) Cut up the carrots, pour them in the dish, and pour the rest of the balsamic vinegar over the carrots and fish.

7) Bake for about 10 minutes or until the fish aren't pink anymore.

8) Put a bed of spinach on a plate.

9) Pour the pasta over the spinach.

10) Put a filet and some carrots on top.

11) Pour the rest of the balsamic vinegar in the dish over your dinner.

Enjoy!