(I know this is a terrible picture... not the most appetizing... this was so delicious that I scarfed half my bowl before remembering to take a picture for y'all)
It’s the beginning of summer and the seafood is fresh and beautiful here in Houston. I stumbled upon this incredible recipe from eatingwell.com that immediately caught my attention… not because it is only 215 calories per serving, but because I already had most of the ingredients in my pantry (essential to cooking on a budget). Also, it is an authentic Puerto Rican dish and the Anthropology major in me loves anything with an obscure foreign name and Latin American origins. (Spanish speakers out there, how do you think you pronounce that? “Bacalao”. It means dry, salted codfish… but this recipe uses fresh fish instead.) Mere, I think you would especially love this since y’all lived in Puerto Rico for a little while. I went to visit them for a week and, while Meredith handed out towels to the tourists at the elegant Hilton Hotel, I lay in a hammock and contemplated the beautiful country with vibrant culture and interesting food… and the new boy I had just met who, a year later, would become my husband. Don’t you wish that we could all just forget the real world and travel around and lie in hammocks and eat things called “Bacalao” all the time? But, alas, we shall just have to pretend and bring Puerto Rico to us by recreating its food in our own little kitchens.
Oh, what? You wish you could see Meredith handing out towels to tourists at the elegant Hilton Hotel? Well, lucky for you, I happened to take a picture.
love the outfit :)
I’m going to give you my version of the recipe because I made some changes. If you want the original EatingWell recipe, click here. This makes 4 small servings, so adjust the quantities as needed. Serve with warm, crusty, whole grain bread to sop up all the juices.
Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 large shallots, minced
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 lb of tilapia (or any other white fish that looks good that day), cut into ½ inch pieces
- 2 cups of Meredith’s homemade marinara sauce (I’m still obsessed with it. It’s full of flavor. Find her recipe under her March post entitled “Lasagna”)
- ½ cup of homemade vegetable stock (see my May post “Make Your Own Stock”)… of course you can use whatever kind of stock you have on hand.
-1 Anaheim chili pepper, diced (substitute a poblano chili or maybe even 2 jalapeños). Beware, the Anaheim chili has a good hot kick. My fingers are still burning from where I touched it raw. I love it, though. It makes me feel like I am sharing in some ancient experience of Latina women who cook traditional meals for their families in beautiful clay pots in hot, fragrant kitchens.
- ¼ cup of chopped cilantro. My favorite herb.
- 2 tablespoons of diced olives… whatever kind you have.
-1 tablespoon of capers
-1 teaspoon of oregano
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
-2-3 small avocados, diced
Directions:
1.Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sautee your diced shallots with a pinch of salt until they are tender and translucent. Add your minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about one minute.
2.Add the marinara sauce, vegetable stock, fish, Anaheim chili, olives, capers, oregano, and salt. Stir all together. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3.Garnish with the cilantro and avocado. Serve it hot.
4.Enjoy the compliments from your guests about how you transported them to a tropical island by serving this delicious, unique meal.
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