Tag Archives: Main Dish

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia ~

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia– I got this recipe off the package of High Liner Mild Tasting Tilapia Loins (frozen individually wrapped and purchased at Costco)

4 Tilapia Loins
1 large or 2 medium Vidalia onions (if unavailable use yellow onions)
2 medium tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I’ve also used canned tomatoes)
4 Tblsps. Fresh Chopped Basil
8 cloves of chopped garlic
4 Tblsps. olive oil
12 Calamata olives chopped

If you don’t have fresh tomatoes you can used canned variety. I have and it turns out very nice, too.

 

Defrost tilapia loins. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Peel and slice onions 1/4″ thick. Saute in olive oil in oven proof pan over medium heat, 2-3 minutes each side or until onions are translucent.
Place loins over onion slices. Sprinkle olives, garlic and basil over fish. Place tomato slices on top. Salt and pepper to taste.
Place pan with fish in center of oven, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until fish is opaque.

You’ll notice that I only made 2 tilapia loins so I cut the recipe in half. There are only two of us and fish isn’t  great as a leftover in my opinion…

Serve tilapia with rice pilaf and spinach salad (their recommendation) Serve it with any starch you’d like and any salad or green vegetables.

Tonight we’re going to have it with pasta and a spinach salad and some fresh bread.

Yummy light and fresh tasting…

Chicken Stew

This is an easy recipe that I elaborated on and decided to share with y’all!

The original recipe was by Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network

Chicken Stew

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, cut into bite size pieces
1 carrot peeled, cut into bite size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14-1/2 oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 (14 oz.) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 Tblsp. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1-1/2 lbs. total)
1 (15 oz.) can of organic kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the oil in a heavy 5-1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minuts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.

 

Bring the cooking liquid to simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occassionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Discard the skin and bones from the chicken. Shred or cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

 

Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with good crusty bread.

So here are my variations: I doubled the recipe. I used a whole chicken instead of just breasts. I let the dark meat cook a little longer than the breasts. I used chopped tomatoes with jalapeno and chopped tomatoes with sweet onions and garlic. I used both kidney beans and a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) I drained and rinsed both. I didn’t have fresh basil so I used dried. The last thing I did different was to throw in some fresh mushrooms!

Enjoy!

We had a full wonderful day yesterday exploring. Didn’t get home till 9:00 just in time to watch the New Season of Project Runway. Whoohoo! This happy old gal is tiii-rrred! Now to upload all the wonderful photos. Have a great morning everyone…