Tilapia with Ginger Rice

Daddy Rating: 5

(This originally came from and Everyday Food recipe, but I doubled the ginger and the rice portion overall, they had peas (yuk) and served it with shrimp. This is actually fantastic with any seafood, I served it with my favorite micro green beans. You may want to do this on a weekend rather than a weekday, we had it on a hot Sunday night and it was perfect.)

Ingredients:
Tilapia (as much as you want to eat for dinner plus some for lunch as leftovers)
Smoked Paprika
Cumin
3-4 cloves Chopped Garlic
4 tablespoons fresh grated ginger (about a 4"-5" piece of ginger root)  (I've used the jar kind, and fresh is soo much better)
1 bunch green onion chopped (white and green parts separated)
2 tablespoons veggie oil
3.5 cups chicken broth
2 cups white rice

Ginger, White and Green portions of the onions separated

Chop green onions and separate green from the white sections. Grate ginger, I find the best way to do this is using a zester - it makes it so the ginger cooks down into the oil beautifully.

I highly recommend getting a zester to grate the ginger

Heat oil over medium high heat and add ginger and white portion of the onions. Cook for about 3-4 min.

Add rice and chicken broth, bring to a low boil, then turn down to simmer, cover and let cook, stirring occationally until rice is cooked. While the rice is cooking, line a cookie sheet with foil and brush with olive oil. Line Tilapia on the pan and sprinkle with paprika, cumin and maybe even some lemon...Mmmm. Broil the fish on high until opaque (about 7 or so minutes).

Yum!

Serve fish on a bed of rice and green beans on the side (these are my favorite microwave frozen green beans) - would also be delish with some reduced spinach, but then you are adding another pan to wash.

ENJOY!

Cajun Shrimp and Rice

(This recipe scores a 5 on the Daddy Rating System)

(From Food Network Cookbook that I got for my first Mother's Day - Only uses ONE PAN. Super fast, easy and tastes so fresh. I also bring this dish over to other mommies house when they are about to go crazy, they always appreciate it)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (When I was dairy-free, I skipped the butter and just used olive oil)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I use basic Zataran's Creole Seasoning and it's quite tasty)

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact (Just buy cooked, deveined shrimp when it's on sale) 

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 plum tomatoes, chopped (I use more like 7 because I like tomatoes)

2 bunches scallions, chopped (about 1/2" chunks)

3 cups cooked white rice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley  (I've never used this)

Lemon wedges, for serving (optional) (I've never used this, either)

Before going to work in the morning (or when your baby is napping), chop the onions and tomatoes so everything is ready to go when you get home - If possible cook the rice, too. We always have cooked rice on hand in our house.

Heat the butter, olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the Cajun seasoning and shrimp and cook, stirring, until the shrimp begin to curl, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomatoes and scallions to the skillet and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the rice and 1/4 cup water and continue to cook until the rice is warmed through and the shrimp are opaque, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve with lemon, if desired.

At this point you can just leave it on the stove until the kids/baby go to bed and then re-heat.

Always serve with a glass of wine.