One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (School Daze 3)

My kids love fish and I love being able to make a good dinner in less than 20 minutes! I try to stay away from strong fish when I'm cooking for them. The dark meat can be rather fishy tasting. Fish I suggest for kid friendliness: Snapper, Grouper (watch for the dark parts and remove), Trout or Salmon. I don't do farmed fish. Did you know they add color to farmed salmon?! It's actually gray if they don't, which isn't very appetizing at all. If you live in Miami, I highly recommend a trip to the river to get your fish from Casablanca or Garcia's fish markets. They have a huge variety of shellfish and fish. Go early on a Saturday and take the kids. They'll love seeing all the live crab, and wide selection of fresh fish.

The Menu:

Sauteed Fish Fillets with Israeli Couscous and Stuffed Zucchini

Preparations: Cut zucchini in half and hollow out. Dice onion, garlic, tomato and pepper. Cut fillet if necessary into portion sizes (about 6 ounces each).

Stuffed Zucchini

3 Small Zucchini hollowed out, flesh minced
1 Plum Tomato diced
1/2 Medium Onion minced
1/2 Red Pepper minced
2 Cloves Garlic minced
1 tbsp Fresh Oregano
1/4 c Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Mozzarella Cheese shredded
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a saute pan, add the oil, and heat on medium high until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion and pepper, and cook for 4 minutes. Add the minced zucchini flesh, tomato, and garlic. Continue to saute until the tomato is soft. Remove from head and add the bread crumbs. Stuff the zucchini with the veggies/ bread crumb mixture. Top with the cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the zucchini is baking make the rest of the meal.

Israeli Couscous

Bring 1 1/2 cup Chicken Stock to a boil. Add 1 cup Couscous. Lower heat, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes. Remove lid, fluff with a fork and serve.

While the couscous and zucchini are cooking, saute the fish.

Sauteed Fish Fillets

1 lb Fish Fillets
Juice of 1 Lime
Sprinkling of Kosher Salt
Sprinkling of White Pepper
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

In a large saute pan, heat the butter and olive oil on medium high heat. When the oil/ butter mixture is shimmering, add the fillets. Cook for about 3 minutes on first side and 3 minutes on the other. Remove from heat and squeeze the lime juice over the fillets.

Dinner is served in less than 30 minutes. This is real fast food.