Tilapia with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

A few weeks ago, Alex and I went to our friend Paul's for a delicious Sunday night dinner. His girlfriend Stephanie is a great cook/baker and a fellow cheeseaholic. She grilled tilapia with this amazing lemon-basil sauce and I had to have the recipe. Seriously, it turned me back on to tilapia, which I had sworn off after seeing a particulary disturbing episode of Dirty Jobs.
She sent me the link and it was a really easy vinaigrette to mix together. While she marinated her fish for about 20 minutes before grilling, I just let the fish sit for a few minutes before broiling it. Either way is good, but personally, I liked the grilled flavor a little bit more. Too bad we can't grill on our 6th floor balcony!
The vinaigrette has really good flavor and can be used on basically any light fish (halibut, tilapia, cod, etc...). I doubled this recipe and had just enough for 4 fillets.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 TBS fresh lemon juice (if you're feeling wild, add lime too!)
2 TBS olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
3 tsp thinly sliced fresh basil or 3 teaspoons dried
2 tsp drained capers
a few small pinches of sugar to cut the tartness..maybe 1.5 tsp?

2-4 fillets of fish (be sure to double if using 4)

Instructions:
Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and lemon peel. Mix in the basil and capers, and let the mixture sit for about an hour (at room temperature). You can season with S&P, but I don't think it needs it!

If you are grilling fish, marinate for no more than 20 minutes beforehand. The acid in the lemon will actually start to cook the fish if you leave it for too long! If you aren't grilling, then let the fish sit in the marinade for 5 minutes or so while the broiler preheats. Broil 6-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your fillets. Your fish is done when it's white and flaky.

The Greatest Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce Ever...

No, I'm not kidding! Seriously folks, this is the bomb dot com, as Alex would say. I found the recipe in Real Simple magazine (which I love and adore like it's my own child), but after moving to Baltimore, I have lost the slip of paper with the actual measurements. No worries, it's a "real simple" improvise! (tee hee...)
I took a picture of it last night, but really, it just looks like a bowl of peanut butter. Not all that interesting. We love it with grilled or stir-fried chicken, and I'm sure it would also be fantastic with beef, pork or noodles. Although, since I don't know what pork tastes like, this is a guess on my part.
Mostly everything is "to taste" because it depends on what type of peanut butter sauce flavor you favor. The vinegar adds a tang, while the soy sauce kicks up the saltiness and Asian flavor. So whatever you think is missing, add more. Start with small amounts because its easier to add than to take away!

Ingredients (this makes more than enough for 2-3 people)
1 cup of peanut butter (smooth or chunky if you want bits of peanuts for crunch)
1/4 cup hot water
Lite soy sauce, to taste. Start with about 1 TBS.
Rice wine vinegar (I don't have this, so I use white wine vinegar), to taste. Start with 1 TBS.
Hot sauce, to taste. We use this blindingly hot Thai chili sauce, known as Sriracha. I can only handle 1 teaspoon of it, but Alex loves to pour it on. So, use it accordingly!
Optional: brown sugar, to up the sweetness if you want. Not necessary, though! If you do add brown sugar, mix this with the hot water so it can dissolve.

Instructions:
Put peanut butter and hot water in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add more hot water if you need a smoother consistency (I almost always do). Add soy sauce and vinegar, and mix well. Taste and adjust for flavor. Add hot sauce at the end, and mix well. Serve alongside chicken, beef, pork or noodles and enjoy!

Alex cooks! Tenderizing Kiwi Marinade

Alex is actually much better in the kitchen when it comes to throwing together a meal. He can take a little bit of this, and a little bit of that --- voila! A delicious dinner. Me, on the other hand, I like the order and support that comes from sifting through fellow food blogs and finding recipes with reviews and suggestions. I like seeing the pictures of food and anticipating what I'm going to create. There are very few things I can make without a recipe, hence the food blog!

During our trip to the local Giant, the kiwi's looked pretty good, so Alex grabbed one. I also had stew beef in the freezer so he made a really delicious marinade. The enzymes in the kiwi help to tenderize tougher cuts of meat and stew beef is definitely tough! This was something we learned from my mom years ago, and she had learned it from a friend years ago. And now I pass it along to you!

Tenderizing Kiwi Marinade

*this recipe is a good base for anything you want to add/take away with this marinade*

Ingredients:

1 kiwi, chopped

2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

4 tsp worcestershire sauce (maybe less next time b/c it was a tad salty)

2 cloves minced garlic

Directions:

Combine everything in a bowl and then add your choice of meat. We like to do everything in a ziplo.c bag and then massage it around before throwing it in the fridge. Do it however you like, and marinate for 2-6 hours.

We love our wok and that's how he stir-fried the beef, using a scant amount of oil for my weight-watching self. What a love! But you can do this meat on the grill, in the oven, in your wok...however you like to wok and roll. HA!

And we had this beautiful view off our balcony during dinner.