Tilapia and Tropical Quinoa

There are nights, I feel like I'm on one of those cooking shows where you have 30 minutes to put a meal on the table.  OK, probably it's because I just didn't get around to thinking about dinner until dinner time, but there are days like that :-)  Last night was one of those nights, but I was pretty happy with the results.  I decided on making tilapia and quinoa.  Tilapia is a great fish - easy to thaw in warm water,  so it can go from freezer to frying pan in 15 minutes or less.    The quinoa is a grain I like to play around with, but it definitely needs some flavor, so I ensure that the liquid I use to cook it in is not just water. 

Ingredients for Tilapia

4 tilapia fillets
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Penzey's Old World seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Penzey's Country French Vinaigrette
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Place tilapia filets on  a plate, squeeze lemon juice on each filet, then sprinkle with lemon zest, and all the seasonings.  Warm the olive oil in a skillet and add the seasoned filets.  Cook 4 minutes each side or until done.

Ingredients for Tropical Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 15 ounce can pineapple chunks - will use juice and pineapple in separate parts of this recipe
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 green onions chopped

Drain juice from pineapple chunks in to a 2 cup measuring cup.  Add enough chicken broth to make a full two cups of liquid.  Add liquid and quinoa to a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Once boiling turn heat down and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, add dill weed, garlic salt, pineapple chunks, green onions, and diced tomatoes, cook for another 10 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. 





Seasoning the Fish

Cooking up the quinoa

Cooking up the tilapia

Finished dinner!

Cook's Note: start cooking the quinoa first and both the fish and quinoa will finish about the same time.