As part of the Teach Me Tuesday series, here is a quick recipe from the lovely Jamie Oliver! He has a multitude of books (and I’m sure I have all of them!) but his Meals in Minutes is brilliant.
The reason I love this book is because it it outlines cooking the way it should be done. Most recipes give you a timeline and directions assuming that the recipe you are looking at is all you are doing in the kitchen. The problem is, if you aren’t that confident in the kitchen, you don’t really know how to maneuver yourself around the kitchen- especially around dinner time or when you need to finish more than one dish. This book gives you a full meal in each post…
This one had all of this listed above and shows you how to do it in under 30 minutes!
It tells you the equipment (like pots, pan, special equipment) you might need and then lays out a methodology for completing the entire meal – almost always including a dessert – with ease.
This recipe was wonderful for me – especially because I tend not to use cookbooks for recipes, but rather for inspiration – because it allowed me to “change it up” a bit by using what I had and ingredients from my garden. My version was “heavily” inspired by Jamie (his, pictured above, had pancetta with Branzino and Asian greens) so please feel free to substitute as you feel necessary (I’m actually encouraging you to do so because that’s what cooking is all about!!).
- make sure you read the recipe thoroughly before you start cooking just so you keep all the steps in order!!
Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
1 lime, cut into quarters
1 tsp finely diced chili
a handful of parsley, chopped (should equal about 1-2 tbsp)
salt and pepper to taste
4 pieces of tilapia
A glug of olive oil (about 1-2 tbsp)
1 lemon
seasoning of your choice for fish (you can use Mrs. Dash or you can use salt and pepper – be creative and add something extra like cayenne, paprika, cumin)
1 bunch greens (I used bok choy but you can use broccoli, asparagus, etc)
a few drops of sesame oil (or olive oil if you don’t have it)
1 small tomato, diced
1/2 of one avocado, cut into smallish pieces
2 tbsp red onion, diced
- Place a pot of water on the stove; turn it on high, bring it to a boil and season it with some salt.
- As well as the pot, place a large fry pan with a glug of olive oil in it on the stove.
- Prick the sweet potatoes all over with a fork.
- Place the sweet potatoes in a large glass bowl along with half the lime (2 quarters) and cover with water; cover with plastic wrap and cook on high in the microwave for 12 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, chop (in a smallish mince) the chili and parsley together on the chopping board; set aside.
- For the fish topping, combine the tomato, avocado and red onion in a small bowl; season well with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Turn the pan with the olive oil on high and watch it while you do step #8
- Put the bok choy in the pot and let boil until the colour turns a bright green (not long…you want it to be a bit crisp).
- Now, season one side of your fish fillets and place in the hot pan – you can cook two at a time but wait until it gets a crust on the bottom before you turn it – if it feels like it’s still sticking to the bottom of the pan, it’s not ready.
- Season the other side, flip the fish over and let it finish cooking; cook the rest of the fillets the same way.
- Meanwhile, drain the greens and place on a plate; season with salt and pepper and pour about a teaspoon or 2 of sesame oil on top of the greens; set aside.
- The sweet potatoes should be done now, so drain the water, slip off the skins and place them on top of the parsley/chili mixture; chop it up with a knife or squish with a big fork and combine it with the parsley mixture.
- Squeeze the lime that was in the water on top of the sweet potato and top with the fish fillets.
- Top the fish with the tomato/avocado salsa and bring the board to the table…serve it straight from the board!
This method, if you aren’t already cooking this way, will be a game changer!! I know it seems like a lot of back and forth, but that’s how we should be cooking…taking advantage of all the “in-between” time of cooking.
Thank you Jamie Oliver…you are a star!!!
