Mediterranean-Style Baked Tilapia over Sauteed Baby Spinach

My family, covering 4 generations, blew into town for a Sunday overnight visit this last weekend. Since they're forever eating out, I thought it'd be nice to host dinner at our house. We had a really great time and dinner came together in a flash...due to all (and I mean ALL) the prep having been done the night before and morning of. I shopped my blog for ideas in the menu department and decided on making the Greek pinwheel steaks, chile-spiced asparagus, mashed potatoes, and a big green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Strawberry crisps with vanilla ice cream for dessert all around!
Let me just say this...I may have over-shopped a bit. I'm left with a huge bag of spinach, lots of tomatoes on the vine, an extra block of feta cheese and a goodly number of pine nuts (unfortunately no more strawberries!) and an open bottle of white wine. All these ingredients will be put towards concocting a baked tilapia over spinach dish tonight. We'll see how it comes out...although I can't imagine it'd be TOO terrible. :-) I had some brown rice left from another meal, so that's getting eht up too, tossed with some diced, sauteed zukes.

Ok, the rice was too good not to write up a quasi recipe. Don't wanna forget this as a great use for leftover rice!
This whole meal turned out to be a real keeper for us.


Zucchini and Garlic Fried Rice:

olive oil
pat of butter
2 small zucchini, diced
salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
cold cooked brown rice
salt and pepper

Warm a non-stick skillet over high heat. Melt butter in olive oil and let it get really hot.
Add diced zukes and toss with salt. Try not to stir it too much at first so that it has a chance to caramelize. When about 2 minutes from done, add garlic and continue to saute for ~1-2 min.
Add a little more olive oil to pan and then add rice. Toss to coat the rice and then spread it out in a level layer in pan. Let it cook undisturbed for a few minutes, stir then re-level the rice leaving undisturbed for another minute or so. You'll want the garlic to caramelize but not burn...it adds a ton of good flavor. Taste to see if it needs more salt and add pepper. Remove from heat and keep warm until the rest of the meal is ready.


Mediterranean-Style Baked Tilapia:

1 lb of natural tilapia fillets, or other lean white fish (our 2 fillets came to just under a lb.)
thinly sliced red onion
thinly sliced red pepper
1 chopped tomato
~2-3 oz of crumbled feta
fresh basil
lemon
salt and pepper
olive oil
~1/4-1/2 cup white wine
garnish with some chopped Italian parsley if you've got it

Pre-heat oven to 450. Oil a baking dish. Season the fillets with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and arrange in one layer in the baking dish.
On top of fillets, layer very thin slices of red onion, and red (or green) pepper. Sprinkle the fillets with 1 chopped tomato and 2-3 oz of crumbled feta, then top with basil. Pour white wine around fillets, drizzle with olive oil and season with freshly ground black pepper and more salt.

Here it is before going into the oven...I promise there IS fish under all that goodness!


Bake uncovered for about 15-19 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. I checked our 8oz fillets at 15 but they took about 18-19.
About 4 minutes before your fish is done, start the spinach.



Wilted Spinach with Garlic and Pine Nuts:

olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package baby spinach
salt and pepper
1-2 Tbs of pine nuts

In a large skillet, heat about 2 Tbs olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add minced garlic and saute until it becomes golden...don't burn it.
Add pine nuts and let them start to color slightly. Add spinach, some kosher salt, pepper and toss to wilt. Serve fish over your lovely spinach and done! Make sure to spoon the cooking liquid over the fish too. It's really good!

Greek Pinwheel Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, Chili-Spiced Asparagus

Central Market sells a Greek pinwheel steak at their meat counter that is really delicious. We treat ourselves to it when we have a 10 buck free steak coupon. Only problem is, The Monster thinks there are too many pinenuts in the filling. I tend to agree, sometimes they go a little overboard. The other stuffing ingredients include a mix of chopped fresh spinach, and feta. All quite yummy when rolled up in a tenderized piece of fajita meat. I had the $10 coupon yesterday, and when the cut of meat I wanted for a beef daube wasn't part of the deal, I looked to the pinwheel. I could make one of those...I think...maybe...
To the butcher I promptly blamed my husband for the reason I wanted to try to make my own...too many pinenuts...he just doesn't like 'em...yadda, yadda, yadda.
He was quite helpful in pointing me towards the cut of meat they use for theirs...I'd have thought it was flank steak, but they use sirloin fajita meat. He even ran the meat though a killer tenderizer machine for me, so all I'd have to do is roll it up and slice into rounds.

We've been eating way more beef than usual it seems to me. But when Central Market gives you free steak, what are ya gonna do?? This is a winner...super easy, little muss, or fuss.


Greek Pinwheel Steak:
This made 7 steaks, not all of equal size...

1 slab of tenderized sirloin fajita beef (mine was 1.5 lbs)
1 1/2-2 cups baby spinach, chopped (next time I'm going to pack a lot more spinach in...)
the better part of a block of domestic cow feta, crumbled
as many pinenuts as you like
pepper spice mix (ours has black pepper, crushed red pepper, and who knows what else in it)
kosher salt
wooden skewers
clippers to trim skewers
plastic wrap


In the morning, lay out the beef. Schmear a layer of the feta over the entire surface of the meat and press it in, leaving ~1" at the end that will be on the outside.

Sprinkle some pinenuts over the surface, and then top with the chopped spinach.

Roll the entire puppy up and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place the whole roll in the fridge to chill, and until ready to cut and cook.

Preheat oven to 425.
Remove the meat from the plastic and place on a cutting board.
Skewer the steaks by slowly twisting a long bamboo skewer all the way through, snipping off the ends with clippers. Just put one skewer in about 1/2" in from the end, then cut a 1" steak, then another skewer, and cut, and so on.

I wrapped the steaks we wouldn't be eating tonight in plastic wrap and then into a freezer bag for the next meal.

(Am I the only one that gets all wiggly from knowing there are all kinds of yummy meals in my freezer that won't take any extra effort to prepare??)

Salt the steaks on both sides.

Sprinkle a pile of pepper mix onto a plate and dredge the steaks in it. Both sides.

Place steaks on a oiled foil-lined baking sheet and pop into the oven for about 15 min if your steaks are about 4" across. Use a meat thermometer (~170 for ours) to determine when they're done to your liking. My steaks were considerably smaller than the ones they make at CM, which was perfect. Just right for individual servings instead of having to messily carve up a large one. They seemed much more tender too, for whatever reason.



Chili-Spiced Asparagus:
I halved all ingredient amounts except for the oil and water amounts to make enough for 2.


This might be my new favorite way to cook asparagus! Quick, easy and tasty...thanks to Culinary in the Desert's blog for the recipe.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 bunches asparagus, tough ends removed, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (can sub. balsamic or red wine vinegar)

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add asparagus and water - cook for about 4 mintes. Stir in chili powder, garlic powder and salt - continue cooking until the asparagus is crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar until well coated.

Makes about 4 servings.

We had good old mashed potatoes to cap off this great meal.