Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Southwestern Fish over Quinoa


My dad gave me a Southern Living Cook-Off cookbook when he visited at Christmas and this is the first recipe I've made from it. It was really tasty and an easy to throw together weeknight meal given I didn't grill the fish as called for. Broiling is a no-fuss option that works great with tilapia. The original recipe calls for Mahi-mahi, but subbing tilapia is fine by us. The original recipe calls for boxed saffron rice, but I made a quinoa with garlic, diced poblano pepper, cumin and colored it with tumeric instead. Served with a spinach salad (with orange, jicama and cilantro) with a chili-lime dressing made for a nice complement to the fish.

Southwestern Fish over Quinoa:
(adapted from Catherine Chandler's recipe in Southern Living Cook-Off)

quinoa:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
just shy of 2 cups water
1-2 tsp olive oil
~1 tsp tumeric
1/2+ tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 diced and seeded poblano pepper, or jalapeno...or nix this, I just happened to have a poblano that needed to be used :-)

beans:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (called for a 19 oz can?? I only found the 15 or 28 so used a small can and adjusted the spices down)
1 can of Mexican style diced tomatoes including juices (or one with added chiles)
1 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander

fish:
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
olive oil
4 good-sized tilapia filets (original calls for 4 6oz. mahimahi filets)
lime juice
jarred salsa (Rose's if you're in Austin!)
Greek yogurt
cilantro

Heat olive oil in a sauce pan and saute garlic, diced peppers, spices and salt for about 1 min.
Add quinoa and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed. Fluff and adjust salt. It was a little on the bland side, but there was a lot of flavor going on top so I wasn't too concerned.

while quinoa is cooking:
In another saucepan combine beans, tomatoes and the spices and simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened.

When you've gotten the beans on:
Preheat broiler on high.
Combine salt, chili powder, cumin and coriander in a small bowl. Place fish on a foil-lined baking sheet and brush/rub the filets lightly with some olive oil. Sprinkle your spice mixture on both sides of the filets, then broil for 5 min first side, and about 2 more on the second side. Just until fish flakes with a fork.

Plate a mound of quinoa on each plate then top with bean mixture. Place a piece of fish atop the beans then squeeze lime juice over it. Top with salsa, Greek yogurt and a little cilantro if you choose.

The dressing for the salad was just lime juice, chili powder, a little agave nectar, kosher salt, a shake of Tabasco, and a little olive oil. Yum!

1 comment:

katalinaTX said...

I live in Austin and am sooo trying this recipe tonight. However, I'm going to use Salmon instead, and I have some saffron so I may throw that into the Qinoa!