Everyone should try this fish!

In the interest of giving people what they want, I did the fish recipe tonight from my menu plan and it was spectacular, thank you very much Jillian Michaels.  So lets get right to it. 

Thai Green Curry Barramundi ( What the world is a barramundi, this isn't California Jillian, she also suggested halibut as an alternative, at least I had heard of that but Meijers didn't have that either, I grabbed some tilapia which is the only other fish I have cooked besides salmon, and in the end, it didn't matter!)

1 Tbsp coconut oil (Really? Dream on Jillian, try olive oil or at best sesame oil)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 tbsp green curry paste
2/3 coconut milk (I used lite, it made a two point per serving difference!)
4  (4 oz) fish fillets
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Lime cut into 4 wedges
1 tsp garlic salt

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat over medium heat.  Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. 

Stir in the green curry paste and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. 

Lay the fillets skin side down in the pan, moving the vegetables to the side to make room as you add each fillet.  Pile the vegetables on top of the fillets, cover the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

Place a fillet on each of four plates and spoon the vegetables and sauce over the fish.  Sprinkle the cilantro over each serving and garnish with lime wedges.  Serve.  Each fillet is 4 pts. And so flavorful, light and delicious.

Some of you inquired about the technique of cooking fish as it is delicate and sometimes difficult to master.  Prior to this we had only ever made fish in one of these and that was our trick. 

The problem with grilling fish is that it flakes, falls apart, difficult/impossible to flip, etc.  Well these baskets completely eliminate that problem so if you like fish I highly suggest getting one. As to the timing, I am sure it depends on a lot of things, the key is when it is opaque and flaky.  This is usually pretty easy to tell but when I said "we", I really meant my husband, he is the grill master in our house.  So when this fish called for alternative cooking means I was concerned.  What if I screw it up, my readers were looking for the magic fish secret, what if I can't deliver?  Well I am going to tell you that all I did was exactly what the recipe said and it was perfect.  I was very skeptical as I was putting the fish in the pan because there was so much juice and although I did my best to make room and pile the veges on top like they said I wasn't sure it was a perfect fit and if all fillets had equal access to the hot pan.  So when I pulled the lid off exactly 10 min later and started poking at them with my fork I was so pleasantly surprised, opaque white flakes.  But the big pay off was in the first bite.  So yummy.  And if you think that the ingredients sound weird, or your kids won't like them or it's too ethnic for you, really it tasted so simple and yummy, my husband said multiple times "Amazing, the fish is melting in my mouth", it really was a big hit, I think my 5 year old felt especially sophisticated squeezing her lime on her fish. Hey whatever gets them to try new things.

(As I introduce my side dish scope out the gorgeous fish flaky goodness on my fork)

Amanda's Ginger Lime Green Beans

Mmmmm, I am making myself hungry for leftovers!

OK so green beans, I steamed them in this:

If you know anyone who sells Pampered Chef and you don't have one, go get one, I use it daily, perfectly steamed veges in the microwave! Yea.  So I did a whole lb of fresh green beans (it is summer after all, I couldn't help but think of my Grandma as I was snapping the ends off, she always made green beans and she would get us all involved in snapping off the ends. Nostalgic moment, sigh.) which took two turns in the microwave, I really need to get the bigger size steamer.  After they were perfectly cooked, I wanted to add a little pizazz without the butter (face it, I used enough yesterday) so I used 2 of these:

 I did about a tsp of ginger and a tbsp of cilantro.  Then a capful of lime juice (what is that like a tsp?).  And some garlic salt, yup I said some, it was just a sprinkle, what can I say I was making it up as I went along.  It made at least 6 servings. 1 pt.  When something tastes that good and is only 1 pt I just sit back and laugh.  I don't even want to know if  you have bought any of these tubes of gourmet garden herbs yet, they are so great, I don't really know how I ever lived without them.  Seriously, as if I don't plug Meijer's enough already but I have to tell you what happened to me the other day. If any of you in my area go to the Rivertown Meijers you know that they are having "issues" these days. The entire store is under overhaul and every time you go in there everything is in a different place and there is construction tape everywhere. When I was in there when the construction first started (like April or May) I rather flippantly said to the cashier, "this is such a pain, how long is this going to last for?" expecting that this massive inconvenience would be about 2-3 weeks.  The cashier very seriously came back with "Oh they are supposed to be all wrapped up by September or October." WHAT?!?  This store is only a few years old and they are completely redoing the whole thing.  Sounds a little like my employer, they also like to do wasteful, unnecessary construction and remodeling.  OK well all this griping is to say that they had completely moved everything, yet again, when I was in there this weekend.  And you know the long wall of produce in every store that has the built-in misting system.  All empty and torn apart.  All the produce, out in the aisle cases.  Hey lady, where in the world are my herbs?  OK I didn't speak to her that way, actually I said, "Do you know what happened to the squeeze tubes of herbs?" She said they likely didn't have any where for them during the remodel.  She could have left it at that.  I would have shrugged and been disappointed but went on my way and found time to do a separate trip to another store for the herbs.  But then she said "Which one are you looking for?" and she went in the back and hunted around for 5 minutes and brought me my Ginger and Cilantro in a tube.  Wow, customer service is not dead after all.  Thanks Meijers produce stocker lady. 

So Fish, good.  Green beans, good.  Leftover roasted potatoes that only needed to be warmed up (even though they don't really fit with the flavor theme), good.  But this dinner desperately needs a little sweetness. Hmmmm.....how about

Amanda's Watermelon Lime Spritzers

I saw this at Meijers the other day too:

I thought, that sounds super delicious so it jumped excitedly in my cart.  Tonight I took 1 cup of this juice, 1 cup of Limeade (prepared), 1 cup of Diet Sprite (or your preferred lemon lime soda) and 3-4 cups of ice.  Blend.  Serve with a sprig of mint. Delicious, big glass 3 pts! Nice.  And I dare say if you added a little something "grown-up" to them that would taste awfully nice too!

So if fish is not your forte but you like it, try this, it really was easy.  If you hate fish with a passion, use chicken and do it up with the green beans and spritzer.  So good you don't want to miss these recipes just because you aren't a fish person.   Now to go get a run in after these kids are in bed.  Night everyone.