If I could eat NOTHING but almond-crusted tilapia for the rest of my days... I'd be one happy girl!
Confession - I've eaten it many times but I've never made it myself. UNTIL TONIGHT! Go me!!!
Tonight I'm also playing with quinoa for the first time. Again... I've ENJOYED it before. But I've never MADE it... before tonight.
(And I do believe my hero-of-a-hubby isn't that much of a fan. But I WILL try one more time with some slightly different flavors - just for him. But that's NEXT time. And right now we're working on tonight!)
This is what quinoa (pronounced "keen-wah") looks like... it cooks into a nice fluffy texture and can often replace rice or cous cous in most recipes. (Some people even use it for breakfast, like oatmeal... adding flavors suitable for breakfast.)
But tonight we are going to make a veggie quinoa and serve it up with almond-crusted tilapia. Oh heck ya!
It's this easy... 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water. Bring it to a boil. Put a lid on it... and it's ready in approximately 15 minutes.
While that's cooking I'm moving on to the tilapia... starting with almond slivers (toasted and unsalted). Cut, chop and slice until it looks more like a powder.
Mix together the ingredients for one of the dredging stations... I used heavy cream and agave nectar. (Another recipe I found online used coconut milk and agave nectar. THAT would be good too!) I don't have measurements for this... so if it tastes too sweet, just add more cream.
Lightly season the fillets with kosher salt and set out your dredging stations. Here I have (from left to right)... corn starch, cream/agave mixture and almonds.
One step at a time... move the fish through the dredging stations and into the hot saute pan. Medium-high heat... a few minutes on each side... and voila!
And now for the veggies...
Everyone in ... please...
Zucchini, tomatoes, oil/paprika mixture... then beans...
And the cooked quinoa...
Give 'er a stir...
Taste and see... yep, it needed a little more kosher salt.
Plate up the quinoa and vegetables... and top with the fish.
I'm telling you... just LOOK at that beautiful crust! And just wait until you taste it... oh man!
Vegetable Quinoa
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale
Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
1 can black beans
1-2 small roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup sliced zucchini
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
Kosher salt/pepper to taste
4 tilapia fillets
1/3 cup sliced green onions
Instructions
- Following directions on package, cook quinoa.
- In small ingredient bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and paprika.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, cook beans and vegetables with oil/lemon juice mixture until warm, about 5 minutes. Salt/pepper to taste.
enjoy your time in the kitchen...
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