Donna's Roasted Fresh Ocean Grouper

Dear Friends, I love it when Gary comes home from a deep sea fishing trip with a package of freshly filleted ocean fish!  His latest catch was succulent grouper that I prepared very simply with dustings of Old Bay seasoning, lemon pepper and salt and topped with melted butter.  The entire meal was prepared in 20 minutes!  See my 15 August 2014 blog for my Bacon-Blue Cheese Salad Whirls recipe that I made as the main side dish while the fish roasted.  Bon Appetit!  Best, Donna:

Donna’s Roasted Fresh Ocean Grouper

Ingredients:

3½ - 4 pounds fresh ocean grouper fillets

Old Bay Seasoning

Lemon Pepper

Salt

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking oil.  Add fillets and season with Old Bay, lemon pepper and salt to taste.  Slowly pour melted butter over top of fish.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Serves 4 – 6.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Zesty Italian Vegetable Salad

Greetings to All, if you can try but one new recipe, give this one a chance - it is simple to put together, is healthy and has lots of zesty flavor!  I significantly adapted an appetizer recipe I found to make it into a stand-alone salad that nicely accompanied oven-roasted salmon and a roasted parmesan risotto.  It is worth using the fresh rosemary which gives the salad a burst of herbal flavor!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Zesty Italian Vegetable Salad

(This recipe was significantly adapted from a Harding’s appetizer recipe.)

Ingredients:

One 12 ounce jar quartered marinated artichoke hearts, undrained and chopped

One 15.5 ounce can garbanzo (or white cannellini) beans, drained

1 cup (1/2 of pint container) grape tomatoes (red or orange or combination), quartered

½ cup Jarlsberg cheese, cubed

24 Kalamata olives, pitted

1 green pepper, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Mix all ingredients and place in glass or ceramic salad bowl.  Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight if possible.

Serves 6.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Triple Lemon Roasted Tilapia

Hello to All, Spring is finally in the air and after a whirlwind trip to the Windy City, I came home to few options for mealtime.  So, I peeked in the freezer to find tilapia and in the fridge where I found 2 lovely Meyer lemons (and not much else!).  They say that necessity is the mother of invention and this is the case with this recipe for triple lemon roasted tilapia although I must say that it was very tasty!  I hope you enjoy it too since it comes together in minutes.  Best, Donna:

Donna's Triple Lemon Roasted Tilapia

Ingredients:

2 Meyer lemons

1-1/4 pounds tilapia (about 3 fillets)

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup Marzetti’s Simply Dressed Lemon Vinaigrette

3 Tablespoons basil pesto

2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon zest

3 slices provolone cheese

2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray a foil-lined cookie sheet with cooking oil.  Remove zest from the ends of both lemons and reserve.  Slice lemons into about 8 slices each, remove seeds and place on cookie sheet.  Roast for about 15 minutes watching for any over-browning.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Lower oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a foil-lined baking pan with cooking oil.  Top with tilapia and add remaining ingredients in order listed on top of fish.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with roasted lemons.  Serve immediately over cooked quinoa, if desired.

Serves 2 – 3.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Thai-Spiced Salmon Cakes

Hello Friends, what fun it was to create this recipe with ingredients already on hand yet with a distinctly international flavor!  Since the salmon and pineapple were already cooked, the main work involved to make the cakes was to mix the ingredients together and turn on the oven which makes this a very quick, healthy and tasty weeknight dinner.  Served with rice topped with almonds or coconut, the meal is complete!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Thai-Spiced Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

½ pound salmon, cooked and flaked

2 eggs

2 grilled pineapple rings, finely chopped

½ cup celery, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh basil leaves, chopped

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon ginger root, minced

2 teaspoons lemongrass paste

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked rice

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray a 6-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  Mix together all ingredients and divide mixture into the 6 cups.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool 2 – 3 minutes.  Carefully remove cakes from pan and serve immediately with cooked rice, if desired.

Serves 4 – 6.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Shake n Bake Lemon Pepper Tilapia Nuggets

It's Friday and fish is on the menu!  This quick, fun and luscious dish comes together in minutes especially if served with salad and/or chips.  Although we had no young visitors here, I think they would like eating these nuggets and even preparing them, especially shaking on the coating.  Give this a shake yourself!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Shake n Bake Lemon Pepper Tilapia Nuggets

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds tilapia fillets (about 4)

1 cup cornmeal

4 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

Salt to taste

2 eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. 

Place eggs in shallow bowl and mix well. Cut each fillet into about 8 evenly sized pieces. 

Mix together all remaining ingredients in a large bowl with lid.  Dip fish nuggets into egg and then place about 8 at a time into the bowl with coating mixture.  Place lid on top and shake; remove nuggets, place on baking sheet and repeat until all nuggets are coated.  Bake for 8 minutes and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Copyright 2015.