Peanut Crusted Tilapea

We've had this meal twice, and it is one of our favorite ways to have fish now! I looked online to get some ideas, but in the end kind of made the recipe up myself.

First, I chopped up about 1/2 cup or so of peanuts. I used my Pampered Chef slap/chop type thing. Then I set up my station:

• A plate of flour with some pepper and a dash of salt
• A beaten egg in a bowl
• Plate of chopped nuts
• Cast iron skillet with some olive oil

 Pat the fish dry with a paper towel, cover in the flour mixture, dredge in egg, then coat with nuts. Here's what it looks like:

It browns up nicely...

We paired it with a nice salad and some roasted potatoes this night.

Also, I whipped up a peanut sauce to go on the fish. Again, I looked online to get some ideas for the recipe, but in the end just made it up based on taste. The basic ingredients were:

• peanut butter (about 1/2 cup)
• soy sauce (a few T.)
• lemon juice (1-2 T.)
• milk (1-2 T)
• ginger, garlic, salt, pepper (to taste)
• Cholula (for a little extra kick)

I might have also added a little rice wine vinegar, I can't remember now. Basically, just play with it until it tastes the way you want!

Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens

This is a recipe from Real Simple, and it is like a risotto, but with barley. We prefer barley to rice, so this has become one of our new favorite recipes!

We ate this as a meal on its own the first time. It was good for a vegetarian dish in terms of being filling, but we preferred it with some Cousin Darlene's chicken on the side.

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

Kosher salt and black pepper

2 cups quick-cooking barley (I used regular barley, it just has to cook for longer!)

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I have only ever used fresh tomatoes)

1 cup dry white wine (I sub. chicken broth)

8 cups torn mustard green leaves or spinach (spinach of course!)

2 ounces Taleggio or Brie (rind removed), cut into small pieces (I just used extra Parmesan)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion, 1/2 teasp. salt, and 1/4 teasp pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the barley, tomatoes, wine, and 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender, 12 to 15 minutes (this is where it takes longer with regular barley).

Add the spinach, Taleggio, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

Here is what ours looked like:

It was much prettier in natural light (sorry Becca!)

Here is the original recipe from Real Simple.