Food Network ain't got nothin' on me!

Radio silence... Sorry y'all. Things have been super busy at work - there are two of us editors in my office, and the girl I work with has been out for a week visiting her family, so my workload has been a bit heavier than usual! Add into that the four workouts I did in the last two days [pilates, 7.5 mile run, BodyPump, and BodyStep], and you can see where my exhaustion has entered. When I woke C up this morning (key detail, because usually he wakes me up!), he said "ALREADY?!" - yeah. Exactly how I feel!

Nonetheless, I knew I needed to share this in writing before I forgot about it - although I'm not sure that could even happen. Friends, I did something seriously important on Friday: I made a kick. ass. dinner. Delicious & with magazine-quality photos, to boot! It was SO. good.

We got out frozen tilapia filets on Friday, and I had every intention of making Tilapia Peach Packets & using some of the farmers' market peaches. However, when I pulled up the recipe at 5:30 on Friday night, that was a great big fail - 12-14 hours to marinate! Ehhh.... notsomuch. On to Plan B.

A quick Google search later, and we had our action plan: Grilled Chili-Lime Tilapia with Peach Salsa. Seemed easy enough... and it WAS. Easy, quick, delicious... practically gourmet. This one will be added to our regular rotation. I seriously recommend giving it a try! Don't be afraid of the fish! It's easy-peasy. Promise.

This recipe even got the seal of approval from C, who is NOT a big fish eater - "this is a good spice rub." Direct quote. 

Grilled Chili-Lime Tilapia with Peach Salsa
Adapted from Ginger Lemon Girl

Ingredients:
Fish
1 lb. fresh tilapia (2 filets)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lime

Salsa
1 fresh peach, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/8 tsp chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tsp olive oil

Directions:
Rinse & pat dry the tilapia and set on a large plate. In a small bowl stir together the dry rub: chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Rub the spice mix over the fish until fully coated. Cover plate of fish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the spices to meld.

While fish is in the fridge, mix together the salsa in a small bowl: dice peach, dice onion, and mix with olive oil and lime juice.  Mix in spices and refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat grill pan 10 minutes before cooking. Get the grill pan very hot (a droplet of water should sizzle immediately). Brush olive oil on both sides of the spice-rubbed fish and place onto the grill. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until the fish is fork tender & gently flakes. Plate grilled fish and squeeze lime over filets. Top with peach salsa after plating.

Enjoy**!

**Serve with whatever frozen vegetables are in your freezer and the leftover potato salad in your fridge because, other than the fish, you were completely unprepared for this meal. Normal.

It sounded good... in theory...

Last night, we experimented for dinner. And that experiment turned out to be… one big “eh.” Not exactly successful, but not exactly unsuccessful. It happens.

I made Poached Salmon Pasta Salad from Laaloosh, using frozen salmon fillets that I purchased a while back. A few modifications, based on the ingredients I already had at home. Here’s what we learned:

• Poaching salmon is easy! Water, white wine, lemon juice, and shallots make for a delicious cooking liquid. I think that, next time, we’ll just poach the salmon and eat it by itself.
• We don’t like capers. The recipe called for three tablespoons – I only put one, and we still both recoiled a bit from the taste.
• I like a Greek-yogurt-based sauce more than C does. Even with a spoonful of honey added, it was a little too tart for him.
• We can poach! This was definitely one for the “new recipes” item on the 25 for 25, so chalk one up in that category.
• This is going to make smelly leftovers, and I will be the leper of the office. Sigh.

Picture evidence:

Poached Salmon Pasta Salad

So much potential.

I should have taken a picture of the salmon poaching, because that was far more exciting, but I forgot. Whoops.

To add to the situation, my sister sent me this picture of her dinner last night:

Homemade pizza. We were jealous.

On the bright side, this was a filling meal, and pretty healthy. The fish and yogurt were great sources of protein, and having a little bit of whole-wheat pasta got us our carb fix, without overdoing it. However, we probably won't make it again. Using my mom's official rating scale, I deem this one a recipe I wouldn't serve to company. Oh well!

Anyone else have a meal fail lately? Tonight's menu features pork tenderloin - which is relatively foolproof!