Pecan Crusted Tilapia and Spicy Tomato Basil Quinoa (I'm back!)

Omigoodness. I am so sorry. I have neglected you for an ENTIRE MONTH. I'm a horrible blogger, but I had some good excuses! I moved! (Did you noticed the header?) The Monkey Scientist persuaded me to move to his hometown of Chicago and so far I am loving every minute of it. However, the move also consisted of 3 weeks without internet, which seriously hindered my ability to blog.  Not to mention the 2 weeks living with the Monkey Scientist's parents, during which I was completely spoiled and only had to cook once or twice. But I'm back now. I'm really going to work on getting back to thrice-a-week blogging, but please bear with me while I get back into the swing of things.



One of my favorite things about moving to Chicago is that I'm close to my baby brother, who is in school at Northwestern.  We haven't lived in the same city for more than a couple of weeks since the summer after my Freshman year of college, and despite our sibling bickering, I love having him around.  And I'm pretty sure he loves having me here - if only because I am willing cook for him.  I gave him a few options to pick from for dinner this week and he chose this pecan-crusted tilapia (the original recipe was catfish but we New Englanders do not eat catfish) and tomato basil quinoa.  A mighty fine choice if I say so myself.

I wanted to spice up the quinoa but accidentally removed the cap from my spice jar instead of opening the shaker and didn't notice before I literally dumped a handful of red pepper flakes into the rice cooker. Oops. I was able to remove a few of them, but we definitely ate spicy quinoa.  The Monkey Scientist would have loved it, but he was out with his own brother at the Bears game.



This dinner was so good, it gave me the kick I needed to get back into blogging. It was super healthy (barely any oil or butter in the whole dish and just a little fat from the nuts) and loaded with flavor.  The quinoa is spicy, nutty, and filled with summery tomato-basil flavor.  I'd love to chop some little balls of mozzarella and spread them throughout next time. The fish was perfectly flaky, nutty, and a little lemon juice complemented it well. I think this meal was a major step up from the frozen pizza baby bro was going to make otherwise.  Plus, it was pretty easy to make. I think baby bro will be coming by more often after this meal!



Pecan-Crusted Tilapia
adapted from Eat, Live, Run

Ingredients
6 fillets tilapia (or any flaky, white fish)
1 cup finely ground pecans (I bought them pre-crushed but you could crush them yourself or put them in the food processor)
3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2-1 cup buttermilk
Lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a shallow dish or pie plate, mix together the finely ground pecans, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, dry mustard, pepper, cayenne and salt.
3. Place the tilapia fillets in another shallow dish. Pour buttermilk over the fish fillets. Dip each buttermilk-soaked piece of fish into the nut mixture, dredging completely. Place crusted fish on a parchment paper or silpat-lined sheet tray.
4. Bake fish for 20 minutes. When done, fish should be white and flake easily. Crust should be golden. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.


Spicy Tomato Basil Quinoa
adapted from Pink Parsley

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained (I used white)
2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-2 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced
2 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Instructions
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about one minute. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the onion/garlic mixture, tomato sauce, water, quinoa, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and cayenne to a rice cooker and cook completely. The quinoa will be tender, chewy, and there will be white, spiral-like threads around each grain. (If you don't have a rice cooker, head back to Pink Parsley for instructions on how to do this on the stove or follow your package instructions.)
3. Move from the rice cooker to a serving bowl and stir in the Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and basil, and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Maple Pecan Bars

Last week, my long time friend from summer camp had an Oscar party for the Academy Awards.  It was a blast!  Everyone brought fun treats and we played Oscar Bingo while taking bets on who would win the awards.  It felt like a Super Bowl party!  I loved the competitive aspect of trying to guess all of the winners correctly - it made me want to pay attention even though the only movie nominated for anything that I saw this year was the Muppets. (It's seriously time to play movie-catch-up at my Redbox!)



The snacks were probably the best part! There was everything from mac and cheese to charcuterie and crudites to desserts like chocolate peanut butter bars.  The best treat was cupcakes that one of my friends made - they looked gorgeous from the outside (topped with chocolate covered popcorn) but when you bit in they were filled with something that tasted like the goo in Boston Cream Pie.  So so delicious.



My contribution was a bit less elaborate, although still absolutely scrumptious.  If you have to bring a dessert to a friend's house any time soon, I highly suggest making this recipe. It does take about an hour to make, but 40 minutes of that is baking time.  The assembly is easy as pecan pie bars.



I was pretty excited that this recipe was similar to pecan pie but didn't call for corn syrup.  I don't think it's the worst thing in the world - it's not like I bake with high fructose corn syrup - but there are still a lot of sweeteners I'd choose to add first.  Maple syrup is probably number 1 on that list.  Maple syrup is in my abandoned on a deserted island pack.  I live for this stuff.



The Oscar party was a ton of fun, and the show itself was pretty good this year!  Billy Crystal was funny as usual, and there were some great presenters.  My favorite part was the Cirque de Soleil performance.  It's amazing the stunts they can pull off - like standing with one foot on someone else's head (while eating popcorn). Unbelievable! I'm dying to see one of these shows in real life!



As with most ELR recipes I've reviewed, this one is simple and perfect.  The Monkey Scientist told me he would have eaten the whole pan if I'd made them at home.  You probably have most or even all of these ingredients already.  The sweetness of the maple syrup complements the crunch of the pecans perfectly.  They come out of the oven boiling with syrupy goodness, and then they cool they're gooey and melt in your mouth delicious.  The shortbread is buttery and holds the whole bar together nicely.  These are a great recipe for Thanksgiving, to bring over to a friend's house, or even just to make for a sweet treat after dinner. It's one of the favorite recipes I've made in a long while!

Cowboy Cookies in a Jar (a gift!)

I know, it's been FOREVER.  But I've been away! And I really didn't do a whole lot of cooking while I was on vacation.  First, I was up at my parents house on the lake in NH with some friends, where we did things like grill and make lobsters.  Not the most exciting food to blog, but it sure was delicious.



Then, I headed up to Chicago to visit the Monkey Scientist's family, as well as some of my closest friends.  It was his mom's birthday, so I wanted to bring a little something special for her.  She loves to bake, so I thought this recipe was a pretty and fun gift to bring her.



Well, it turns out, going through security, a mason jar looks a bit...suspicious.  Fortunately, when my friendly TSA agent unwrapped the jar, he actually thought it was the smartest idea ever.  Apparently, I was informed, you can't bring actual cookie dough on planes because it is unstable, but as long as you remove the liquids, you're good to go.  I told him he should put this recipe up on the TSA website!



My little trip to the North was amazing - I saw so many great friends and family, and had a fantastic time jet skiing, swimming, kayaking, waterskiing, and then experiencing the "beach" in Chicago.  The cookie mix jar went over great, and I definitely recommend it as a gift.  Make sure you REALLY pack down each layer, as I had trouble stuffing in the last of the flour...and then the sugar, chocolate chips, and pecans got a little shaken up on the plane.  I suggest using a wide mouth jar (not like the one I used) so it's easier to pack it in. I'll definitely perfect it by the holiday season!



Cowboy Cookies in a Jar
from all recipes

Ingredients
1 1/3 c rolled oats
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart jar in the order given. Press each layer firmly in place before adding the next layer.
2. Include a card with the following instructions:

Cowboy Cookies Mix in a Jar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 c melted butter or margarine, 1 egg, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Stir in the entire contents of the jar. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing. Shape into walnut-sized balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven.  Transfer from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.