Set Your Scales Back

Now that we're winding down from the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving, it's time to wind down the scale as well :)  I don't know about y'all, but I ate my weight in mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and cheesecake.  Thanksgiving is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  Shocker, right?!  I mean, anything that revolves around food is pretty much my favorite.  Thus bringing me to my one and only Christmas wish....

I mean, SERIOUSLY!!!  

Speaking of Gilmore Girls, have y'all finished watching the revival?  I just finished last night and I LOVED IT!!!  I won't give anything away, but it was so good.  And I'm more than happy with the way it ended :)  

Okay!  Now let's get back to food.  Something Lorelai and Rory would be more than happy to do.  

Instead of spending the next 3 weeks indulging in holiday treats, we're going to get back to our regularly scheduled eating.  Light meals with lots of flavor.  If you're wanting to get back on the same track as me, here's a great recipe to start you off!!

SALMON WITH LEMON CREAM SAUCE

adapted via Simply Recipes

1 TBSP. olive oil

Cajun seasoning, optional

3 TBSP. lemon juice

1/4 C. chicken broth

2/3 C. heavy whipping cream

1 TBSP. canola oil

Sea Salt & Pepper

1 1/2 LBS. salmon fillets

Green onions, to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 400.

Lightly brush both sides of salmon with olive oil.  Season both sides with cajun seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's).  If cajun seasoning isn't your thing, just season with sea salt and pepper.  Obviously the cajun seasoning will be a little spicier and pack a bit more flavor, so choose as you wish!  I also squeezed half a lemon over the top of the salmon before cooking.  

Cook for 12-15 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.

While salmon is cooking, prep the lemon cream sauce.

In a small saucepan, add lemon juice, broth, and heavy whipping cream.  Heat on medium high and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove lid and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes on high heat to reduce the sauce.

Pour sauce over cooked salmon (to taste) and top with chopped green onions.  Squeeze a little fresh lemon over the fillet to top it all off. 

We eat salmon at least 2-3 times a week so I'm always on the hunt for news ways to cook it.  We'll definitely be trying this again!  The sauce was the perfect compliment to the seasoned salmon and made for such a delicious meal.  

Salmon & Asparagus

Our weeknight dinners have been pretty sparse the last few weeks.  Between Mr. Spouse being in the playoffs and after school obligations with the kids, cooking from a "recipe" just didn't seem very appealing.  We try to eat as clean as possible, so I try to steer away from adding too many processed ingredients to our weekly meals. That's not to say I don't cook those types of meal from time to time, but for the most part we try to keep it pretty simple these days.  When we go out to eat, well that's a whole different story ;) 

 Lean meats, fish, veggies, and fruits are usually what fill my shopping cart. Typically our weeknights have been going something like this... Steaks and veggies, Fish and veggies, Turkey Taco Salads, and Chicken & veggies.  NOT very adventurous lately!!  I love finding new ways to cook my staples, so when I found this Salmon recipe I had to try it immediately!!!  Start to finish, a total of maybe 20-25 minutes?!?!  And the best part?!  It's an all-in-one-pan kind of meal!!!

CAJUN SALMON & ASPARAGUS

via Creole Contessa

1 salmon fillet

2 tsp. cajun/creole seasonings (I used Tony Chachere's)

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. paprika

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 lemon, zested & juiced

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Mix together all seasonings in a small bowl.  For the cajun seasoning, my most favorite is Tony Chachere's.  We seriously put it on everything!  Such great flavor!  

Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place the salmon on top.  Brush the olive oil over both sides of the salmon and cover with the spice mixture.  Now zest the lemon and sprinkle over the top of the seasoning and squeeze with lemon juice as well.

Arrange your asparagus next to the salmon and slightly drizzle with a little olive oil. You can either season with sea salt & pepper or sprinkle with a little bit of that cajun seasoning.  We opted for a mixture of both.

Bake at 475 for 10-12 minutes & remove salmon from the pan if cooked. I cooked my asparagus for another 5-7 minutes (texture issues) and that was that!!!!  

I can't tell you how amazing this was!!!!

It's already on the menu (again) for tomorrow night's meal :)  If you like salmon, you'll LOVE this one!!

A Little Kick To Your Palate

Down here in our little neck of the woods we love our seafood.  I'm not speaking for everyone in this region...just our little family.  And by little family I mean me & Mr. Spouse.  Oh...and my youngest.  We tried to get our youngest to try shrimp about a year ago and he wasn't a huge fan.  My older one gagged at the sight so we didn't push it.  A few months ago my husband tricked our youngest into eating fried fish by telling him it was venison (he LOVES venison).  He ate a few filets with much delight before  Mr. Spouse dropped the bombshell and he excitedly exclaimed, "GET OUTTA HERE!!!  You mean I love fish, too?!?!?!"  Hahahaha.  

I'm always on the hunt for new seafood recipes to incorporate into our weekly menu. Fish, shrimp, crabs, oysters, scallops...you name it and I want to cook it.  Or at least I want to attempt to try :)  Seafood is easy enough to broil/bake/grill/sear/fry, but I love to switch things up and incorporate it into recipes.  This week Mr. Spouse requested shrimp and scallops and I originally intended to sear the scallops in bacon grease and roast the shrimp.  Well..I wasn't feelin' it and I ended up finding a recipe I wanted to tweak that I figured would satisfy my palate a little bit more.  And it did.  OHMIWORD...outta the ballpark delicious!!!

SPICY SHRIMP & SCALLOPS OVER BUTTERED NOODLES

1/2 lb. angel hair pasta, cooked

4 TBSP. butter

2 TBSP. olive oil, divided

2 TBSP. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 lb. sea or bay scallops

1/2 tsp. paprika

4 TBSP. chicken broth

1 large lime, divided

1/2 C. cilantro, chopped

Avocado, chopped (optional)

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Before you get started, season the scallops and shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste.  I just placed mine in a large ziplock baggie, poured in a few dashes of salt and pepper, and tossed to coat.  Let that set aside until it's time to bring 'em back in.  ALSO...cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and return to pot.  

Add 1 TBSP. of olive oil to a large pan over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add in the garlic. Stir to coat and cook  over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes or until garlic starts to lightly brown. 

Now remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside.  

Add the other tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and when it's heated toss in the crushed red pepper, scallops, shrimp, and paprika.  Stir to coat.

Now toss the garlic back into the pan and stir until blended.

Cook over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes and then add in the chicken broth.  

By this time you should see your shrimp starting to get pink and you will notice that your scallops are becoming more translucent (in the middle)...they're almost ready!!!

Cook for about 2-3 additional minutes on medium heat or until shrimp and scallops are cooked through.

Reduce heat and remove the shrimp and scallops with a slotted spoon leaving the liquid in the pan.  Set aside. I placed mine in a bowl and kept them in the microwave (the microwave was off!) until I needed them again.  Does that really help to keep them warm?!  I don't know, but it made me feel like it did :)  

Now cut a lime in half and squeeze half of the lime juice into the pan with the remaining liquid.  

Chop the cilantro and add that to the remaining liquid as well. Stir to combine and cook over low heat.  

You can add salt and pepper to taste as well (if you so desire).

Take the other half of the lime and squeeze it over the shrimp and scallops and mix to evenly coat. 

In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the cooked pasta to the pan.  Stir to coat noodles in butter.  This will lightly add a bit more flavor to the dish so I would definitely recommend not skipping this little step :)  Remove from heat once coated and set aside.

Now grab a bowl and serve yourself a small bed of noodles.  Remember this isn't a pasta dish so you don't want to be too generous with this serving...the shrimp and scallops are the star of this show!

Pour a generous serving of the shrimp and scallops over the buttered noodles  and top with the chicken broth/cilantro/lime juice leftover in the pan, and sprinkle some chopped avocado on top of that.

YUM!!!!!

Truly a very unexpected delicious dish!  

There won't be a ton of liquid leftover in the pan.  Of course, you can always double the recipe to give you more, but we found that even the small amount we had was plenty.  You can always eat this without the noodles, but we personally loved the added texture to the dish.  

This little recipe definitely brought the heat, so if you aren't a fan of spice, reduce the amount of crushed red pepper or leave it out altogether.  We are HUGE fans of spicy food so this was right up our alley.  It wasn't overpowering by any means, but it did add a nice little kick to the dish.  Mr. Spouse absolutely LOVED it and that says a lot because he's not afraid to tell me when I miss the mark :)  Bless. I'm really working on portion control at the moment, but if I weren't I would've devoured the leftovers in a heartbeat.  Flavor explosion!!!

This will definitely be coming back into the rotation soon. It was light, but really filling at the same time.  I love the meals that leave you feeling satisfied, but not miserably full.  My kind of meal!

Monday Mash Up

It's Monday and I have a confession....

Before I get started, I need to wish Mr. Spouse the happiest of birthdays.  Today's the big 4-0 and we've been celebrating his 4th decade of life all weekend long.  Those are the best kind of celebrations.  My parents kept the boys this weekend and I took Adam downtown for a little surprise party. We stayed at one of our favorite hotels and some of our favorite friends surprised him at a great little sports bar & grill, Tejas, before we hit the town.  The Astros & the Texans were playing that night, so it turned out to be the perfect set-up.  #winning  We woke up yesterday and went to brunch at Danton's with our friends and then headed back to mom & dad's for Sunday Funday with the family (cake & ice cream included).  Now we're getting this ready around the house to celebrate our favorite 40-year-old when he gets home from work tonight.  Mercy!

I haven't quite decided what's on the menu this evening, but I can guarantee that cake will make an appearance.  I'm thinking of something along the lines of seafood.  It's definitely one of our favorite fares.  This summer we ate tons of it.  Lots of fish and shrimp and our favorite bottom feeders, crawfish :)  This salmon dish right here was one of our FAVORITES.  So full of flavor and easy to prep!  We paired it with roasted asparagus and a little lemon juice and we were in seafood heaven.  If you like salmon, you would LOVE this dish!

BAKED LEMON GARLIC HERB CRUSTED SALMON

slightly altered via My Natural Family

3 oz. butter

1 tsp. salt

Zest of 1 lemon

1/2 TBSP. dried parsley

1 tsp. dried dill

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 salmon filets

As I said earlier, this is a really simple meal to prep and bake!  And y'all...SO full of flavor!!!

First up, go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Combine butter, salt, lemon zest, parsley, dill, and garlic in a small microwaveable bowl.  Heat in the microwave until the butter is melted, stir, and brush on the top of each salmon filet with a pastry brush. 

Bake at 400 for about 12ish minutes or until the salmon is cooked through.  

DELISH!!!

This was, by far, one of our most favorite recipes of the summer and now that I'm looking at these pictures I'm thinking this would be perfect for tonight's birthday dinner.  As for my two little boys, they'll have to settle for chicken nuggets and broccoli.

#notfansoftheseafood #acquiredtaste

Now I need your help.

I've been thinking about trying out some of those deliciously appetizing food box delivery services and I need to know what's the best.  I've been doing my research, but I'd love to hear what you like if you use them, too.  Since Mr. Spouse will only be home for dinner 3 nights a week, these food boxes would be perfect for us.  I love the idea of not having to meal plan.  And I love that the ingredients for each dish are already pre-measured (I have issues cooking for 2.  #Ialwaysovercook #leftoversfordays).  Another draw for me is finding new and different foods. I love the idea of trying things I normally wouldn't venture to try on my own for fear of not being able to find the ingredients at our little grocery store.  So far I've found Plated, Blue Apron, & Hello Fresh.  Am I missing anything???

Shirmp & Stuff

We're currently hunkering down and trying to prep for the tropical depression that's slated to dump buckets of rain in these parts the next few days.  More rain.  Yay.  I'm praying it stays as far away from the families that were affected by the last round of flooding as it possibly can.  They don't need any more devastation.  

My littlest one is laying right beside me watching Chicken Run and nursing a fever.  I hate it when my kids are sick....so helpless!!  However, I do get lots of cuddles and snuggles, so it's not all that terrible ;)  Not exactly a great start to the week.  This is how we spent our one-on-one time yesterday after spending a few hours at Chuck E. Cheese...

The first week of summer is behind us and it was a fun one...basketball camp for the boys and lots of poolside shenanigans for mommy & daddy :) Good times!  

We've also spent the last couple of Thursday nights at our favorite local vineyard.  We take our picnic blankets, lots of cheese and other snacks, and then sit around listening to live music while the kids run around playing, climbing trees, and catching frogs.  Goodness I love this place!  

We've been grilling a lot more these days, too.  I love all kinds of food on the grill, but grilled shrimp and corn are definitely two of my favorites.  This little dish is a combo of both and it is SO good!  I love the kind of meals that are filling, but don't make you feel stuffed after consumption.  This one will be on repeat all season long!  

GRILLED SHRIMP AND CORN SALSA LETTUCE WRAPS

via Chipotle Potato

1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1-2 ears of corn

1 medium tomato, diced

1-2 limes

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1/4 C. red onion, chopped

1/4 C. cilantro, chopped

1 TBSP. olive oil

Salt & pepper, to taste

Tony Chachere's seasoning (optional)

Artisan romaine or butter lettuce

To get started, you'll need to do a little advanced preparation.  Soak your skewers in a shallow dish of water for about 10 minutes prior to grilling (this will keep them from burning!)  Peel & devein shrimp and then put them on the skewers.  Season shrimp & corn with Tony Chachere's or your preferred seasoning. That just happens to be our favorite.  

Now go ahead and grill both the corn and the shrimp.

While the shrimp and corn are grilling, prep the salsa.  Chop your tomato, red onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and toss in a bowl.  Squeeze the juice from the lime over the tomato/onion/cilantro and mix well to combine.  Once the corn is grilled, cut off the kernels using a knife and add to the tomato/onion/jalapeno/cilantro mixture.  We used two ears of corn and then added extra lime juice to the mixture.  Now add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and mix well unti combined.  

To serve,  remove the shrimp from the skewers and place on a leaf of lettuce. Top with a serving of the corn salsa, wrap, and eat!  YUM!  This was a definite winner!!!  Mr. Spouse had several servings and I went back for seconds :)  Such a great summer meal and one that would be perfect for entertaining, too!!  

My Love Affair With Shrimp

I have a longstanding love affair with shrimp.  Sauteed, grilled, roasted, baked…or my personal favorite…in a cocktail ;)  I’m kinda like Bubba from Forest Gump when it comes to these little crustaceans.  So it only stands to reason that I was totally intrigued when I found this recipe.  I’m not really sure I’ve ever tried mixing seafood & Mexican.  When I frequent my favorite Mexican restaurants, I’m usually a beef tacos al carbon kinda girl…very predictable and not too adventurous.  But when I’m at home, I like to mix things up in the kitchen and make it exciting ;).  And I’m SO glad I tried this!!!  I know I say this about a lot of things I try, but this is definitely one of my most favorite dishes!{shocker} 

SHRIMP & GUACAMOLE TOSTADAS

via Bev Cooks

Corn tortillas

cooking spray

2 cups shredded cheddar/monterrey jack cheese

2 TBSP. olive oil

1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 TBSP. ground cumin

2 TBSP. chili powder

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 red bell pepper, cut into small chunks/slices

A couple of limes

GUACAMOLE

2 ripe avocados

1 pkg. McCormick’s guacamole seasoning mix {or use any guacamole recipe you have!}

Once you get started, it will all go pretty quickly, so don’t let this set up scare you too much!  Let’s start first with the shrimp.  Toss them in the cumin, chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, and the garlic salt and set ‘em aside.

 

Now take the tortillas and lightly coat both sides of each with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 for about 4 minutes on each side. 

Now turn on your broiler and top each tortilla with a generous amount of shredded cheese.  Broil for about 2 minutes or until the cheese is hot & bubbly. 

 

Set these aside and take out a skillet.  Heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add the shrimp.  Sear on one side for a couple of minutes…

…and then flip ‘em all over and sear ‘em for another minute or so.  Remove the shrimp from the pan and set them aside.

Now don’t clean out your skillet.  Just add your red bell pepper to the pan and start sauteeing.  You’ll wanna make sure you scrape the pan as the bell peppers sautee so that all the yummy browned residue from the shrimp starts to coat them. 

Now go ahead and whip up your guacamole.  I pressed the EASY button for this one and just used a couple of avocados and a packet of McCormick’s guacamole seasoning mix.  It’s my favorite.  If you have a great recipe for guac…use that. If you have the premade stuff, you can use that, too…but I personally think fresh is best!!!

Now let’s get back to the tostada, shall we?!  Top the cheesy tortilla with a dollop…or five…of guacamole.  You’ll wanna make sure you’re being generous here because this only adds to the the  flavor of this dish.  Then top the guacamole with the shrimp and then add the seasoned peppers to the top.  Then ever so gently shqueeze a lime over the top. 

Try to resist before you get it on your plate….I DARE YOU!!!!  I snapped this pic after I ate my first two.  I seriously couldn’t handle the wait!  I can’t begin to tell you how amazingly delicious this dish really is.  My love affair with shrimp only intensified after taking my first bite.  Just make sure you have a few napkins on hand and throw your table manners out the window because you’ll undoubtedly dig in with no restraint! 

Tip Your Server

Did I ever tell y’all about the time I waited tables?!  Well…it wasn’t just one time.  I actually waited tables for several years…and LOVED every minute {except for those HIGHLY stressful times when I was in the weeds or forgot to put in an order for a 10 top. NOT fun.}  I’ve got nothin’ but mad respect for servers.  Even the ones that forget to refill my tea when it’s been empty for 20 minutes ;)

My most FAVORITE place to wait tables was Joe’s Crab Shack. I worked there for a long while and loved it.  The food, the people…I loved it all.  Maybe a little bit had to do with the manager letting me perform N*Sync’s “Dirty Pop” all by myself on busy Friday and Saturday nights to a packed house.  {By the way…I’m so NOT ashamed to tell you that I learned every.single.move to N*Sync’s “Dirty Pop” and wasn’t afraid to show off my skills…or lack thereof, for that matter.}  It’s no wonder it took me so long to find a husband.  But I digress…

One of the best things about working at Joe’s was the food…in particular, their crawfish etoufee.  When I graduated from college, I spent about 6 months working full time at Joe’s until I got my first teaching job.  I ate almost every meal…except for breakfast {which was usually 3 Red Bulls}…at Joe’s.  Crawfish etoufee was in my weekly…if not daily…rotation of meals.  Oh, how I LOVED it.  SO, if you know that little tidbit about me, it should come as no surprise that I FLIPPED when I found this recipe for etoufee.  It took me back to the good ol’ days of begging the cooks to make me fried pickles…sneaking bites of ice cream in the freezer between shifts…working doubles on the weekends…and making some of the most fabulous friends.

 

EASY CRAWFISH ETOUFEE

1 stick butter

1 tbsp. flour

3 tbsp. green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can cream of celery soup

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

1 lb. crawfish tails

cooked rice {I used 2 boil in a bags :)}

chicken broth, for preferred consistency

Tony Chachere’s cajun seasoning, to taste

 

Here’s what you’ll need to get started…

You might notice that the chicken broth and Tony’s seasoning are missing from the line-up.  Don’t you worry, friends.  They’ll make an appearance in a little bit.  Until they do, let’s get started.

First up, let’s start by adding the stick of butter.  If you opened up this post hoping to find a recipe low in fat and calories, well…you came to the wrong place.  If you’re not afraid to indulge in a little sinful eating every now and again, then keep on reading. 

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the flour.  Stir until well combined and then toss in the onions, bell pepper, and garlic and mix it all together.  In a separate pot, boil your rice and set to the side until you’re ready to serve it up.

Cook the veggies until they’re soft and tender…probably about 7-10 minutes, give or take.  Now throw in the soup, mix it all up, then throw on the lid, cover, and let it all simmer for about 20{ish} minutes.

When it’s all nice and simmered, toss in the crawfish tails, salt, pepper, and green onions.

Now, here’s where you might {or might not} want to introduce the next two players…

I like a thick, soupy etoufee, so I kept adding chicken broth until it was the consistency I wanted.  Then I added my most FAVORITE spice…Tony Chachere’s.  If you’re not familiar with the amazingness that is Tony’s, then be cautioned.  This little spice packs a BIG punch, so add at your own risk!  {Okay, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously…it gets pretty spicy, so be careful!}  mix well until heated through and serve over rice!

Ohmiword, y’all!  AMAZING!!!!!!

Did you hear me?!?!  I said, AMAZING!!  Because it really is!!!  I’m tellin’ y’all, the Tony’s addition definitely added a lot to this dish.  SO flavorful.  And it was definitely reminiscent of Joe’s version.  And for real, could that have been ANY easier?!  I think not.  If you’re as big a fan of crawfish as I am, you must promise me you’ll give it a try!  But make sure you try it on a cheat day because this is definitely NOT on the list of approved meals for your summer slimdown ;) 

George Foreman Approved.

Raise your hand if you owned a George Foreman grill in college {me! me! me!}  Alright, now raise your hand if you still own said grill {ummmm…me?! me?! me!?}  It’s true.  I still own mine.  And I use it ALL the dang time.  I flippin’ LOVE that thing!  I can’t grill to save my life, and I hate waiting for Mr. Spouse to get home so we can fire up the big one, so you’d better believe that my mini grill…aka: my “Foreman”…gets a lot of play in my kitchen.  That’s how I roll.  Here’s one of my FAVORITE Foreman recipes. I first started making this when I was on the South Beach Diet about 6{ish} years ago {a mini high school reunion was coming up} and this was one of my saving grace dishes.  Even though this recipe isn’t George Foreman endorsed, I have a feeling he’d definitely approve!!!!

 

GRILLED FISH AND PEPPERS

1 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

2 tsp. crushed red pepper

4 tilapia filets {I use the frozen tilapia :)}

2 red peppers, sliced into thin strips

2 green peppers, sliced into thin strips

2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro {optional.  I didn’t use it!}

 

This is all you’ll need.

Mix the dressing and red pepper together until well blended.

Cut the peppers into thin slices and toss into a gallon-sized ziplock baggie with the fish filets. 

Now pour the dressing/red pepper combo into the bag of veggies & fish, zip it up, and shake the heck out of it.  I mean, really shake it good!!!

Refrigerate the fish/pepper/dressing combo for about 15-20 minutes, just long enough to marinate.  Now toss the peppers and fish on the grill and cook for about 4 minutes and then turn the fish over.

Grill until the fish flakes easily with a fork!  When it’s finally ready…which WON’T take long at.all…transfer to plate and serve with grilled peppers.

You can sprinkle with cheese…and cilantro, too, if that’s your thing.  I actually left out both the cheese and the cilantro and I can honestly say that this is one of my FAVORITE fish dishes!!!  We haven’t had this in a while, but when I made it, Mr. Spouse said, “Why don’t we have this more often?!”  Good question.  If you’re a fan of fish, then you definitely need to add this recipe to your menu!!  It’s light, but filling, and a great addition to your “healthy” cooking choices!! 

Something’s Fishy…

There’s nothin’ I love more than a good fish recipe.  I was ecstatic when I found this one!!  Not only is it DElicious, but it’s super quick to make & LOW CALORIE.  Not that I’m counting those or anything ;)  HA!  Seriously though, put this on your menu because you’ll definitely wanna give it a shot!  If Mr. Spouse liked it, it’s gotta be good!

TOMATO & MOZZARELLA FISH BAKE

4 filets of fish {we used tilapia}

2 cans of Italian seasoned diced tomatoes {garlic, basil, oregano}

1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

1 green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

 

Season fish {both sides} with salt and pepper.

Place fish in a 9x13 baking dish and top with red & green bell peppers.  Drizzle with Italian dressing.

 

Top with diced tomatoes…

 

and bake at 450 for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with mozzarella.  Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted & fish flakes easily.

Just incase you’re wondering, it tastes as good as it looks!  Maybe even better!!  I know I’ve hit the jackpot when Mr. Spouse can’t find anything bad to say about it ;)  I’m definitely looking forward to more Lenten Fridays!!!

PS:  I’m pretty sure I’ll add more veggies next time…maybe some onions too!!! 

I’m Gourmet Like That

Am I the only one who feels like a gourmet chef when I’m cooking fish?!  Because I do.  Pretty sure that frozen  cod does NOT qualify as gourmet, but this recipe will seriously make you feel like your food is straight from Emeril Lagasse’s kitchen! BAM!

COD WITH CRAWFISH BAYOU SAUCE

4 cod fillets

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tbsp. Creole seasoning {I use Tony Chachere’s}

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup crawfish, cooked {or you can sub cooked shrimp}

1 tbsp. butter

Salt & pepper

Season fish with salt & pepper {both sides}.  Cook on medium – medium high for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until flakey.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter.  Add heavy cream, garlic, green onion, & creole seasoning.  My FAVORITE creole seasoning is Tony Chachere’s {it tastes great on EVERYTHING!} & I love using the pre-made chopped garlic, too!

 

Cook on medium heat and add crawfish.  As you can see, I didn’t add any to mine :(  Boo.  But that’s not because I don’t love crawfish.  Sadly, we were OUT and I completely forgot to pick some up at the store!  The sauce is JUST as amazing without the crawfish, so if you don’t like crawdads or shrimp, it will still taste DELICIOUS!!!!!

 

Remove from heat and serve over bed of rice.  This is one our our FAVORITE fish dishes!!!!  In my opinion, the more sauce the better!!!  It’s AMAZING with the rice and it definitely packs a little punch ;)  Here’s to being “gourmet”!