Well tonight was my first actual experience in the kitchen from start to finish and boy was it an experience. Until now, I never realized how much work goes into making a meal. At home I always help my mom cook but I never really made a full on meal on my own. Well tonight changed all that. On the menu for dinner was…
Tilapia in Mustard Cream Sauce
Whole Wheat Pearl Couscous
Steamed Brocolli
I found the tilapia recipe on myrecipes,com, which is one of my all time favorite places to find recipes. I had bought and frozen tilapia the week before so I wanted to make something that would be good for dinner and leftovers as well. I also wanted a recipe that included a sauce because I had the couscous so this recipe sounded perfect. The recipe calls for…
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 ounce portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
I only had 2 tilapia filets because I’m not feeding an army over here. I did end up using the amounts listed to make the sauce however because I really like sauce and sometimes tiliapia can be a little boring when it comes to flavor. So I figured you can never have too much sauce right? I also added one roasted red pepper with the mushrooms because I had it leftover and I figured the flavors would mesh well together. You could probably add just about any vegetable to the sauce honestly, it just depends on what you like. Next time I want to add onions and spinach as well because you will come to find that I love me some vegetables. The last substition/addition that I did to the recipe was the use of Italian seasoning instead of thyme. I’m on a college budget and don’t have all the spices in the world so I just found something in our spice cabnet that resembled it and the Italian seasoning was the winner
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So the cooking began. First, I boiled the water for the couscous and defrosted the fish for about 4 minutes because it had not totally thawed since taking it out and putting in the fridge this morning. Four minutes may have been a little too long because the edges of the fish started to cook but in the end it didn’t really make a difference. Once the water was boiling, I added the couscous and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. I don’t think I added enough water because it ended up being a little hard sadly. The recipe on the back of the couscous called for a cup and I cannot eat a whole cup of couscous by myself. Therefore, I fourthed the recipe and that’s where I got screwed up because the original recipe called for 1 and ¼ cups of water and I’m good at math and all but that’s kinda hard to cut into a fourth. I guessed and did ¼ cup + 1 TBSP and it was a little short. I ended up adding another tablespoon after about 5 minutes and it helped but next time I think I’ll just use more water. First cooking lesson learned haha.
Enough about the couscous fiasco, I added the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to the tilapia and then placed them in a skillet with cooking oil over medium high heat. I cooked them on both sides for about a minute each and then added the chicken broth. I then brought it to a boil, covered it, turned the heat down and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I cut up the mushrooms, red peppers, and brocolli since I had the time. After I let the fish simmer for a little bit, I added the mushrooms and red pepper. It said cook for a minute or until the mushrooms were done, but it was definitely longer than a minute. I ended up taking the tilapia out of the pan because it was getting overcooked and then just let the mushrooms and peppers cook for probably about 10 minutes. I was getting impatient so they weren’t totally done but I was hungry and tired of cooking so I went ahead to the next step. I added the whipping cream and Dijon mustard and then stired it all together for about a minute. This is what the sauce looked like...
Looks kinda gross but looks are very deceiving
While all this was going on, I planned to steam my fresh broccoli on the stove but since we only have 2 pans with lids, this didn’t happen. I caved and cooked it in the microwave for times sake and so that all the other food that I had just cooked wouldn’t be stone cold. I put it in the microwave for about 5 minutes and sadly that was too short. They were a little crunchy but not horrible. Now I know for next time though to cook them more. I had put half the couscous in a bowl and then I added one tilapia filet and then proceded to pour the sauce into the bowl. I honestly have no idea how much sauce I put on it so I would say it’s personal preference. I then drained the broccoli and added it to the bowl and finally I was done! It was definitely worth all the effort I have to say because it was delicious! I’ll definitely be using the recipe again as well because it was fairly easy. I felt very rewarded eating my meal and I for the first time I felt like a real person because I cooked a meal all by myself...cheesy I know but true haha. Here's what the final product looked like...
One bowl of deliciousness.
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