Krystal's "Screw you, winter!" dinner

The Reason:
Winter has reigned long enough. With spring starting tomorrow (THANKYOUSWEETLORDJESUS), and an abundance of produce from Full Circle Farm at my disposal, what better reason to throw together a new recipe?


The Menu:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Winter Must Die punch


The Ingredients and Directions:
Caribbean Tilapia with Carrots and Onions
Ingredients:
1/2 cup - apricot & pineapple preserves
1/2 cup - Johnny's "Jamaican Me Sweet Hot & Crazy" marinade (found at Costco)
1 1/2 cup - tropical fruit juice (I used a guava/pineapple/peach/passion fruit/banana blend)
1/2 cup - Yoshiba's Sweet Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup - soy sauce
3 tbsp - agave nectar
4 frozen tilapia loins, thawed (also found at Costco)
4 medium-sized carrots, chopped to 1'' pieces
1/2 of a large, Walla Wall onion, also in 1'' pieces
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 thin slices of lemon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. To make the marinade, combine first six ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Place tilapia, carrots, onions, and garlic in a large, Ziploc freezer bag, and pour marinade over them.
4. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Place tilapia in a 13x9''  baking dish, place one slice of lemon on each, and (using a slotted spoon), place marinated vegetables around the fish.
6. Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, return to oven, and bake an additional 10 minutes until fish is flaky.

Parmesan and Sweet Onion Couscous
Ingredients:
2 boxes of Parmesan couscous (found at Safeway or other main grocery stores)
2 1/2 cups of broth (I used 2 cups of vegetable broth and 1/2 cup of chicken broth)
5 tbsp - butter, divided 2:3 (I used a Red Chile, Shallot and Lime compound butter that I had made)
1/2 of a large Walla Walla onion, diced fine
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp - lemon pepper
2 tbsp - salt
3 tbsp - agave nectar
Directions:
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions, using stock in place of water, and increasing the butter to 2 tbsp.
2. Saute the remaining ingredients in a medium, non-stick skillet until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the couscous, and stir to combine.

Winter Must Die punch
**I only made one glass, but it's amazing... so, multiply the ingredients by however many people you will be serving.**
Ingredients:
1/2 of one lemon, plus two slices
4 ice cubes
8 oz - tropical juice blend
8 oz - orange, pineapple, banana juice
Directions:
1. Place two ice cubes in the bottom of a tall glass, then the two slices of lemon, then the remaining two ice cubes.
2. Squeeze the 1/2 of one lemon into the glass, and add the rind to the glass as well.
3. Add the tropical fruit juice blend.
4. Add the orange/pineapple/banana juice.
5. Stir, add straw, sip, and shake your fist at winter.

Hot Weather = Cool Food

Seattle's summer came late, as usual... arriving on July 5th. With it, a mini heat-wave has descended upon our green city, leading me to bring out any/all warm weather recipes for my family that I can find.

Your local supermarket can be pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to finding local and/or seasonal produce... heavy on the "miss" if you're completely honest. A lot of the stuff you'll find in there has been shipped across the country (or the world), frozen, or packed full of preservative and/or pesticides. Then there are those rare moments when... *insert choir of angels singing here*... you luck out.

Last night was my lucky night!

I stopped by Safeway on the way home, and they had the biggest, freshest, most AMAZING watermelons I have ever seen! Already wanting to try out a recipe for watermelon & cucumber salad, I was able to form an entire meal around this delectable treat... and my family LOVED it!

Last night's dinner:

 - Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia
 - Watermelon & Cucumber Salad
 - Corn on the Cob

1. Hawaiian-style baked Tilapia

5 frozen Tilapia loins, thawed
1 TS salt
1/4 c. Soyaki Sauce (Trader Joe's)

Preheat the oven to 400 (F). Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray, and lay out the Tilapia. Sprinkle with salt, then pour the Soyaki marinade over the fish. Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes or until the fish is nice and flaky.

... isn't that EASY?!

2. Watermelon & Cucumber Salad

1/2 c. white vinegar

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 TS red pepper flakes

Salt

8 cups seedless watermelon, cubed

4 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1/4 c. sweet chili sauce

Combine vinegar, sugar and pepper in saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool. Slice cucumbers and toss with 1 tsp of salt. Let sit in colander for 30 minutes. Pat dry. Just before serving toss watermelon with salt in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, red onions, celery, pepper syrup, and sweet chili sauce and toss. (recipe adapted from: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/327/WatermelonCucumber_Salad13199.shtml)

See you in the kitchen....!

- Krystal