Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Tilapia

One of Laela's favorite foods to eat is shrimp.  With butter, plain, in Chinese food, in scampi, cooked in a crab boil, you name the way it comes (she'll even down them with some spicy cajun seasoning!), and she'll inhale them by the pound.

Since Kyle isn't the biggest shrimp fan in the world, and Laela asked to have shrimp for dinner, I compromised and made some lemon-garlic shrimp and tilapia with broccoli and brown rice.  It was a delicious meal that didn't take a ton of time, and was the perfect combo of being both filling but not heavy so that when we went to the park afterwards, we didn't feel like we were laden down from a huge meal.

Lemon-Garlic Shrimp and Tilapia with Brown Rice and Broccoli

You'll need:

• 1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (I usually buy frozen by the pound since it's generally cheaper)
• 4 Tilapia filets, deboned and filleted
• 4 Cloves garlic, diced
• 2 Lemons
• 2 Broccoli Heads, or broccoli florets
• Brown rice of your choosing (enough to serve 4)
• Onion Powder
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

• Heat a large skillet to medium heat.
• Drizzle the skillet with olive oil (a teaspoon or two, enough to make sure the pan is covered so that the fish does not stick to the pan)
• Slice one lemon into thin slices.
• Lightly sprinkle the tilapia with onion powder, salt and pepper.
• Do the same to the shrimp.
• Place the tilapia and two garlic cloves in the hot pan.  Surround them with the lemon slices.  (Don't overcrowd the pan though.  A few slices will do.)

• Squeeze lemon juice on top of the fish.  If the fillets are thin, they should take about 2 minutes per side.  With fish, when it is ready, it becomes more white rather than clear white, up the sides.  It also releases itself from the pan when it is ready to be flipped, or is done cooking.
• Remove the tilapia from heat.  (Fish is flaky when it is done.  If you need a knife at all for tilapia, it's not done cooking.)
• Place the shrimp and 1 garlic clove in the hot pan, making sure there is enough oil in the pan.
• Squeeze some lemon on the shrimp and toss in a few lemon slices.
• Shrimp cook quickly, so when they begin to curl, change color, and look more firm, take them out.
• Serve with a side of lemon.

For the Broccoli:

• Heat a medium skillet to medium heat.  Drizzle a small amount of olive oil into the pan.
• After the pan has heated, add 1 diced garlic clove into the pan.
• When you can smell the garlic cooking (after about a minute or so), add the broccoli to the pan.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes.  Broccoli will be tender when ready.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• **If you haven't got any olive oil left, or are trying to be extra healthy, use a few tablespoons of water to steam cook the garlic and broccoli.  Just put the heat to medium high heat with the water in the pan, add the broccoli and garlic.  Pop on the lid.  Lower the heat to medium heat.  Broccoli in 5 minutes!
• **I squeezed fresh lemon over the entire meal to make it more cohesive, but if you want some components sans lemon, that's totally up to you.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Lemon Garlic Tilapia

I had a pretty rough night last night.  Laela was chanting for Daddy before bed, so it really didn't help that the snow plows woke her up three times and reminded her that, nope, Daddy still isn't home to come cuddle her when she's freaked out.  If you see Mr. Snow Plow, thank him for cleaning our roads, but ask him if it's necessary to be so loud?  I'm just sayin'.

Since I'm so zonked, I'm going to give you the easiest fish recipe you'll ever make in  your life.  Seriously.  I came up with this the other night when I realized that it was 6pm and I had nothing defrosted.  A quick stop at the fish market and I had dinner ready in ten minutes, prep and all!

You'll need:

1lb tilapia
1 lemon
4Tb olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 heaping tablespoon of garlic

Heat your pan to medium heat.  Drizzle your 4Tb of olive oil in the pan.  Add the garlic.  Slice one half a lemon into thin slices and place them in the pan.  Salt and pepper both sides of your fish.  Place your fish on top of the lemon slices.  Squeeze the other half of lemon, drizzling the juice all over the fish.  Cook about 4 minutes per side and you're done!

I made this with some yummy couscous (takes five minutes), peas (2 minutes), and steamed carrots (5 minutes).  The couscous and veggies all cooked while I waited for the tilapia.  It doesn't get much easier or faster than that!

Fish Fry for the Brain Dead

Sorry for not posting Weds.  I'm totally fried.  My in-laws visited for the weekend and then my husband left for the week on a business trip.  Needless to say I'm totally zonked.  Note to self, never ever ever have house guests before Kyle goes away ever again.  Entertaining and then parenting solo do not make for a good combination.

All complaining aside, Ms. Laela had a kind of fun milestone today.  She has learned to talk to her Daddy on the phone.  She figured out how to open the phone and start chatting.  Little did I realize that she'd hit my speed dial and was actually leaving him a message haha.  It was pretty darn adorable!

On the food side of things, Laela and I have been on a fish kick all week.

Here's a good old fashioned fish fry that you can cook in less than five minutes with only half a brain functioning.

You'll need:
1 cup flour
1 cup corn meal
1 lb fish- deboned and cleaned (I prefer catfish or tilapia for this recipe, and you can pick up filets for pretty  cheap at your local grocery - don't feel like you need to clean your own fish!!)
Old Bay
Oil (a lot of recipes use peanut oil, but Laela can't have that, so I used olive oil)
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 sprigs of thyme

• Place your pan (as usual, I prefer cast iron) on the stove top, add a few good glugs of oil (I used extra virgin because it was on hand and I'm not ready to introduce Laela to anything peanut yet) and bring it to medium heat. 
• Combine your flour, corn meal, Old Bay and Thyme in a bowl.
• Combine your lemon juice with a 1/4 cup of water.
• Dip each filet of fish (you can cut the fish into strips if you'd like, it makes no difference in flavor, just shave a minute or two off of the cooking of the fish) into the liquid and then dredge it in the flour/cornmeal mixture.  Then gently place it in the pan.  Continue to do this until there is no room left in the pan.  Do not overcrowd the pan. 
• Cook the fish for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per side.  (You'll notice that the fish will look "cooked" up the side when it's ready to be flipped and will appear flaky (especially if you fork it gently) when it is finished cooking.
• Place each cooked piece of fish on some paper towels you've set up on a plate to sop up some of the grease.
• If you're a salt lover like myself, sprinkle some sea salt on your fish once it's fresh out of the pan.
• Serve!

I love serving this fish with some Basmati rice with red peppers, tomatoes and kidney beans.  Just follow any Basmati rice recipe and add some salt, pepper, garlic and whatever grilled veggies you're in the mood for!

My camera is being wonky.  I'll post pics of this yumminess later!