Moroccan Spiced Fish

A couple of weeks ago Kevin and I went to BJ's Brewhouse and I ordered a Moroccan Spiced Salmon. It was easily one of the best fish I've ever had! The spice had a rich, earthy taste that reminded me a little bit of curry. Kevin's not a fan of curry, but he also really liked my dish! I finished my meal and wanted to place a to go order! Lol I decided to try and find a copy cat recipe. I couldn't find one, but after searching for Moroccan spices, I found a spice that I thought might have been used on the fish I had. I decided to try William-Sonoma's Ras El Hanout because of the bright red color of the spice, which reminded me of the fish I had at BJ's. McCormick's also makes Ras El Hanout, which I more readily available, but I was already at Williams-Sonoma for something else.

We bought steelhead trout instead of salmon and it was delicious!!! It didn't have as much of the flavor of the spice like at the restaurant so I think next time I will rub the spice on and let it sit and marinate for about 1 hour or longer instead of just of 15 minutes. I may also play with some sort of sauce like the one at BJ's. Here's my version:

Gather it:
2 filets of fish (I would pick sturdier fish like salmon or steelhead instead of something like tilapia)
2 Tbsp of Ras El Hanout
1Tbsp of olive oil

Make it:
1) Put 1 Tbsp of Ras El Hanout and rub into the fish (preferably doing this at least an hour before hand and refrigerating for deeper flavor).

2) Heat 1Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat and swirl to coat bottom of a large frying pan.

3) Depending on the thickness of your fish, fry one side for 5-6 minutes and the second side for another 5 minutes. My filets were thick and it took this long to cook through. 

We had ours with couscous, just my favorite boxed kind in the pasta/rice section at Publix. I mixed  in some sliced green onions and few twists of the pepper grinder. I can't wait to experiment with this new spice!!!

Oven Baked Salmon with Butter and Lime

I had nothing to do with this dish...this was Kevin's concoction. I watched him do the prep and it was really pretty easy. We had it with rice and quinoa and steamed cauliflower. It was a really good healthy meal! The kids typically won't eat fish by itself, but we break up the fish into smaller chunks and mix it in with the rice/quinoa and they gobble it up.

FYI: this was our salmon before it went in the oven. 

Gather it:
salmon filet (we got ours at Costco...just under $11 for the whole filet shown above)
about 2 Tbsp melted butter
juice of half of a lime plus a few lime rings
salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried cilantro
dried dill

Make it:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and place salmon on top.

2. Pour melted butter, squeeze lime wedges, and sprinkle remaining 5 ingredients on both sides of salmon. Place a few lime rings on top of filet...I think this just might be "decoration" though. lol

3. Make a loose envelope with the foil by bringing the 2 long sides together in the middle and folding it down. Roll the short sides together.

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until fish is done. Our filet wasn't very thick so it didn't take long to cook.

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

I've been craving pasta and Publix sealed my fate when I saw that pasta and cheese were on sale! I was originally going to make this with grilled chicken, but then I saw crab meat...and I've been craving some since Valentine's Day (which I still haven't posted about...slacker!!!). This was a pretty cheap and fairly easy dish to make! Everyone liked it and Kevin and I have some yummy leftovers for lunch!

Gather it:
1 lb of pasta (whatever shape you want)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan and pecorino romano cheeses
broccoli florets (I used frozen since the fresh wasn't looking too good at Publix)
crab meat
1 small onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
dried parsley

Make it:
1. Cook pasta according to directions on the box.

2. In another pan with high sides (not a sauté pan), combine cream, butter, salt, pepper, onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook over medium heat until onion and garlic are softened and cream starts to bubble and thicken a bit.

3. During the last 5 min of cooking the pasta, add the broccoli to thaw it out. Once thawed. Drain pasta and broccoli and add to cream mixture. Turn the heat off.

4. Add the cheese to the pasta and cream mixture and toss together. Add the crab to the mixture and gently toss together so the crab doesn't fall apart.

I topped mine with a little extra cheese b/c I love me some cheese.