Tilapia with Turmeric & Dill - Bok Choy with Mushrooms and Scallions

I am always looking for something new and different to do with tilapia, much like someone might do with chicken. I call it 'The Low Fish' because it's low in mercury, fat, calories, saturated fats, sodium and carbs. It's also low in price to boot! I can certainly get behind that.

Of course all the low factors change depending on how you prepare it.  There is one tried and true go-to tilapia recipe that I know will get scarfed up by everyone it gets put in front of, which I will inevitably make soon and post about. But that particular dish is not low anything...

This recipe, however, is a most refreshing change. It's light and tasty. I usually serve it with jasmine rice and steamed sugar snaps or a bok choy and mushroom stir fry that's really complimentary to the dish.

Combine sugar and lime juice and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Add the fish sauce and minced jalepeno.

Chop a few scallions.

Season fish with ginger, tumeric, salt and pepper.

Fry 2-3 minutes per side in a few tablespoons of hot oil.

Remove fish and add scallions, dill and the sauce with jalepenos you made earlier.

Spoon sauce over fish to serve.

Tilapia with Tumeric & Dill

serves 6

4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 jalapeno, minced
3-4 scallions
1 small bunch of fresh dill, chopped
6 tilapia fillets
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground tumeric
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp oil


In a small bowl or glass, combine the sugar and lime juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the fish sauce and jalapeno. Set aside.

Trim the scallions and cut them into 1/2-inch-long pieces.

Pat the fish dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the ginger, turmeric, salt, and a few grinds of black pepper all over the fillets on both sides. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tilapia and cook, flipping once, until just firm and opaque in the center of the thickest part, about 4 minutes total. Transfer the tilapia to serving plates.

Add the scallions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until they just start to wilt, about 45 seconds. Add the dill and continue to cook until it has wilted slightly, about 15 seconds more. Pour the sauce into the pan and stir to heat through. Drizzle the scallion-dill sauce over the tilapia and serve.

This is the bok choy and mushroom stir fry - with recipe below!

Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Mushrooms and Scallions

1-1/4 lb bok choy (1 large/6 baby)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oil
Salt
8-10 scallions cut into 1 inch lengths
2 cloves minced garlic
1 pint of mushrooms, any kind (I had button mushrooms on hand that I washed & halved)
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

To prep mature bok choy, separate the leaves from the stems by slicing the bok choy head crosswise at about the point where the leaves begin to spread out. Cut the leaves into lengthwise strips 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide. Quarter the stem end lengthwise and remove any inner leaves, putting them with the leafy tops. Slice the stem quarters crosswise into pieces about 3/4 inch thick. Rinse and dry the stems and leaves separately. (If using baby bok choy, simply cut the heads lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide pieces or wedges.)

In a small bowl, combine the oyster sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch, and sesame oil. Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch.

In a 12-inch nonstick stir-fry pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the bok choy stems and mushrooms, and season with 1/8 tsp. kosher salt. (If using baby bok choy, add all the pieces now and skip the step of adding the leaves later.) Cook, tossing frequently with tongs, until the stems are pliable and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, until the aromatics are tender, fragrant, and starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the bok choy leaves and 1/8 tsp. salt. Using tongs, toss until the leaves are completely wilted and integrated with the stems, 1 to 2 more minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir the sauce and quickly mix it with the vegetables in the pan. As soon as the sauce thickens and has coated most of the vegetables (a few seconds), transfer to a platter and serve.

Sweet Chili Lime Wings and Bok Choy & Radish Stir Fry

Wings are an easy weeknight dinner, not to mention that I can cook the wings earlier in the day and warm them up for saucing later when everybody's hungry. And no one sees me sneak a cold wing or seven while waiting for said dinner time...

Normally I bake my wings, not fry them.  I do this for two reasons:


(1) Frying is not particularly healthy for you...yes, fried tastes better and yields a way, way tastier texture on the wings, but baking (if done right) can come pretty darned close. Not exact, but close.

(2) Deep frying frightens me. One day, I will blow something up by accident. Once I tried to deep fry fish nuggets in my trusty cast iron dutch oven and I either burned them or they didn't cook completely.  Deep frying is an art that I am still working to master.  I am much more comfortable skillet-frying my way into dinner.  Yet, I will continue to face my fear of frying in more than 2 inches of oil without whimpering in the corner.

I decided to fry the wings this time and face my fear of frying. It worked out pretty well. The texture was just about perfect and not too greasy.

I decided to experiment with a new sauce this time too. We always have the standard buffalo wing sauce, although the brand may vary from time to time.  We have tried (and liked):

* Crystal Hot Sauce and (melted) butter
* Budweiser Wing Sauce (even though I hate their beer other than American Ale)
* Crystal Wing Sauce

This time, however, I wanted to veer away from the traditional buffalo sauce and try something different.  I knew going into this that I was forbidden from making a strictly asian-type of sauce (i.e., using soy sauce in any way, shape or form) because the probability of Papa Bear eating them or liking them would drop below a 30% chance. He has issues with soy sauce that I shall save for another time...

I wanted sweet and spicy instead of just rip-your-tongue-out spicy. I decided on a maple syrup/chili sauce/lime sauce.  It was a little too sweet for Papa Bear and Crazy Artist, but everyone else thought it was pretty darned good. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

Instead of the standard celery and carrot sticks with dressing, I decided to mix it up and do a quick stir fry with some bok choy and radish.  I cooked until just warm and slightly tender, but it still had a nice crunch to it. I also threw in a little shallot and lemon pepper for some zing.

All in all, this was really enjoyable.  Wings are always on our dinner rotation, and I think the sauce and stir fry side will be too...

Chili Lime Wings

3 pounds whole chicken wings
1 cup real maple syrup (not pancake syrup!)
1 cup chili sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
Oil for frying

Cut the wings into three sections and discard the wing tips. In a deep skillet or dutch oven, heat oil to 375.  While the oil is heating, combine flour, salt, paprika, pepper and chili powder in a large ziplock bag and shake to combine. Add wings a few at a time and shake to coat.

Fry wings in batches for 8-12 minutes or until no longer pink, turning once. Drain on paper towels. You can stop at this point if you choose. You can refrigerate the wings until you're almost ready to eat; just heat your oven to 375 and heat the wings on a single layer on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. If you can't wait for wing-y goodness, continue to the next step.

In a medium saucepan, combine maple syrup, chili sauce, lime juice and mustard and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until liquid has reduced to about 1 cup.  Transfer hot wings to a big bowl; add sauce mixture and toss to coat. Eat immediately or serve to your family...


Bok Choy & Radish Stir Fry

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 head of Bok Choy
15-20 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning

Cut off root end of bok choy; you can use this as a garnish (as I did) if it looks particularly pretty.  If not, discard the root end. Cut leaves from stalks and cut into one inch slices. Cut stalks into one inch pieces.

In a large skillet, melt butter with oil over medium high heat.  When butter is melted, add bok choy and cook for 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Add the radishes, shallot, salt and lemon pepper. Cook and stir for about 3-4 minutes or until heated through.