Let Them Eat Fish

The weekend got off to an intense start with another trip to the dentist for my husband. I hate to see that guy in pain, but he handled it like a champ. I am so thankful that we have found a dentist we really like. I hung out in this plush waiting room - pretty fancy :)  

I am a sucker for these letter photos. I have a small collection of letter pictures I have taken in a file that I may some day make my own personalized word.

This was one of my favorite lunches - a piece of naan bread with the lemon/tarragon chicken salad. I could eat it every day, but someone would surely remind me I need some fruits and veggies too!

I would like for us to eat more fish. I like it, but my husband is not a fan. I have probably only made it two other times since we have married. Sometimes, I make it when I am by myself or with someone else who likes it, but not for the two of us. I make no secret of the fact that I am hunting for ways to work it in that he might consent to seeing on his plate occasionally. I am not sure he appreciates my mission, but that might just be what wives do :) This recipe from Skinnytaste has been waiting on my Pinterest board forever - Skillet Cajun Spiced Flounder with Tomatoes.

I was attracted to this recipe because it is spicy and had tomatoes and peppers, all of which my husband likes. I also thought those flavors would hide the fish a little bit. First up, it called for Cajun spice. Since I am a complete newbie I consulted my Louisiana friends and "Slap Ya Mama" was one of the recommendations. No offense, Mom, but who can resist a goofy name like that??

Once I had the seasoning the rest of the ingredients were pretty basic. I did end up using tilapia because that was what Aldi had and the recipe suggested it as an alternative to flounder.

I have watched enough cooking shows to know Cajun cooking has a trinity - peppers, onions and celery. I think I have mentioned before my issue with cooked celery, Thankfully, it wasn't called for in this recipe. I simply pretended the garlic was part of the trinity.

 I bought fresh tomatoes, but winter tomatoes are nothing like tomatoes from the garden.

To boost the tomato flavor I added a half a cup of crushed tomatoes. You could used canned diced tomatoes in place of all the tomatoes if you like.

First onions get sauteed. The recipe said to saute the onion and garlic together for a couple minutes. However, garlic can turn bitter in no time if overcooked. So I sauteed the onions and then added the garlic for the last 30 seconds to release their fragrance.

 Then I quickly added the rest of the sauce ingredients and cooked for a few minutes.

Simply lay the fillets on top of the sauce and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes. My cook time was shorter because the tilapia fillets were significantly thinner than the fish in the recipe.

 In 10 minutes I had a pan full of this :)

 I served it on rice with a sprinkle of green onions for color.

My husband enjoyed the rice and sauce, but just could not get into the fish. He ate about half the actual fish, but ate everything else. I will be honest when I tasted the fish I knew he was not going to like it - it was not as mild as I had hoped. Maybe I can try it again sometime with a different fish. Overall, the recipe is super simple. There was even a suggestion of preparing the sauce in advance - then all you do is warm the sauce a little and add the fish - dinner in minutes.

There were some questions in the Skinnytaste comments about converting the recipe to chicken. I might try that, but I think it could be a little tricky to get the chicken texture right. Maybe I would cook them separately until the end right before serving.

"Slap Ya Mama" review - When I smelled the spice I didn't think it would be very spicy. When cooked it had much more kick than I expected. It was good and would definitely like to have it again, but I was happy to have my water next to me :)

Millie went to the park to play ball Saturday morning. And Saturday afternoon....  Sometimes it is good to be the puppy :)

I had gone to Sam's with my sister and niece to Sam's Club on Friday. There was a special booth offering stuffed salmon. As a Lent special they allowed you to buy it by the piece instead a huge package of fillets. I couldn't resist the opportunity to give it a try.  Saturday night, ironically after our fish lunch I was having fish again. Since I had another steak I could make for my husband I didn't feel guilty about making fish again. We both enjoyed our special version of His & Hers Surf and Turf.

I could not believe how delicious the salmon and stuffing were. I will definitely be having it again. We had gone out to eat a couple times recently and I was very disappointed with my food. The bottom line is most of the time I prefer the food I make at home, but I don't always want to cook and like dining out. By the way, our Surf and Turf dinner was less than $10 for the two of us. My fish was $4, my husband's NY Strip was $3 a couple of dollars for the sides. If I could find a restaurant like that I would be thrilled :)

Sunday we had a zoo adventure with my family. More on that this week. I will sprinkle (or dump) some of the pictures into the next couple of posts. I love the zoo and always take a gazillion pictures.

Happy Leap Day to everyone!  Any special plans for this bonus day?