Dog Days of Summer

Its hot...and humid....and oh so sticky. Not a great time to be slaving away in the kitchen with new recipes. So, last week and this week....its easy dinners. Dinners that don't include turning on the oven.

Last Friday ended up being a kid-free night, so we took advantage and had a night out! Yeah! We had fresh, tableside guacamole and I had fish tacos which were not all that healthy, but better than some alternatives...and I only ate one of the two I was given. (the second was lunch on Saturday!) Unfortunately (or fortunately...however you look at it!), I had 3 martinis, at a whopping 200+ calories each....yikes!

Saturday night we BBQ'ed. I just marinated some chicken breasts in our fave BBQ sauce, threw them on the grill with a few vegie kabobs from vegies at Farmers Market (vegies tossed in olive oil and sprinkled w/ garlic salt), fresh pineapple and strawberry fruit salad...and viola...dinner. Nothing hard. Nothing fancy, but very yummy and an EASY summer dinner.

Sunday was spent cleaning out 8 years of neglect in our garage. Its still not perfect, but better. It was most definitely a good 7 hour work-out!! And last night was my oldest daughter's last night before camp and she requested Breakfast for dinner. It unfortunately required turning on the oven for biscuits, but as luck has it, it was overcast and raining by dinner, so the kitchen wasn't hot at  all.  So, "dinner" was biscuits, bacon, turkey sausage and scrambled eggs...along with a huge fruit salad. It very much hit the spot! 

Tonight is Citrus Tilapia...another no-oven dish! I have lots and lots of fresh vegies to go with it, and left-over fruit salad, too! I've made this recipe before, but I don't think I've ever posted the recipe. I'm thinking a good "fruit" salsa might go well with it, however I'm terrified of making my own salsa b/c I'm terrified of jalapeno peppers. Silly, I know. But I'm not a fan of them, hence, my slight fear of cooking with them!  Maybe I can buy something yummy....suggestions??

CITRUS TILAPIA
Prep time: 10 minutes / cook time: 10 minutes
4 Servings

Ingredients
2 teaspoons butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 (4 oz) tilapia fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice (I used fresh)

Directions
1. Heat butter and oil in skillet over low heat. Season Tilapia with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.

2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add fish. Cook until well browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn fish and continue cooking until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer fish to plates or platter.

3. Pour orange juice and lemon juice into skillet. Boil until reduced by about half, 1-2 minutes. Drizzle sauce over each fillet and serve.