Tilapia Awesomeness and Stuffed Peppers

Tuesday night I wanted to make an entree that would go with some of our leftovers.  We had tons of mashed potatoes and onions left after the pierogie cooking we did, and I couldn’t let those go to waste.  Since I don’t eat chicken, beef or pork, and the mashed potatoes provided a lot of carbohydrate for the meal, I decided a fish dish using onions would be best.

I found this recipe online and it was a perfect match.  This is balsamic baked tilapia served with the mashed potatoes and a side of steamed broccoli.

I started by sautéing some red pepper and onion.

 

I used the frozen tilapia I had already had.  That was another reason I wanted to find a tilapia recipe.

After adding a few more ingredients, including some balsamic vinegar, I spread the onion and pepper mixture over the fish.

 

Here is the special ingredient, in my opinion.

 

Crumbled blue cheese really compliments the balsamic flavor.

 

Into the oven the fish dish went, while I heated up our mashed potatoes and checked on the broccoli, which was steaming in the rice cooker/steamer.  I loved how the blue cheese baked right on top.

Wanna know the first thing Ryan said when I placed this in front of him?  He commented on how colorful this meal was.  Although the potatoes added a lot of white, visually, they really complemented the flavor.  Oh, and it went great with a glass of red wine.

From time to time I ask Ryan is there is anything special he would like for dinner.  I love that he gives me general ideas and not specifics.  I still have freedom and he gets something he wants.  This time he said “How about a stuffed pepper?”.  Wow, I never would have thought of that.  I had never made stuffed peppers before so I was curious to give it a try.  I also had been wanting to make orzo for some time, and this seemed like the perfect excuse to blend what he wanted with what I wanted.

I had picked up this pasta at the local Portuguese store.  It was not exactly orzo, but it was the closest one I could find.

 

So I gave it some thought and with some suggestions from Ryan, I decided to make a mushroom orzo dish to use for filling the peppers.  I did some internet searching and came across this recipe.

I couldn’t resist taking all these pictures of mushrooms.  I LOVE mushrooms!  Sadly, they are not Ryan’s favorite, but I think he is starting to enjoy them more (probably because I serve them at least once every other week).

I had a hard time not sticking my head over this steaming pan because it just smelled so good.

I found a separate recipe for stuffed peppers,  It’s a Giada recipe, so I thought that would be a great one to try, even if it was only to see how I was supposed to bake the peppers.  I did learn from that recipe that the orzo should only be partially good, so it was a good thing I checked that out.

I added the orzo and mushrooms together, and then I decided to add a little fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Next, I had to get my peppers ready.  It was hit and miss on the peppers at the commissary.  I picked the ones I thought looked the best.

I was really surprised that the peppers were this cute when they looked like little bowls.  I must seriously have hated peppers before because I never knew they were so much fun.  I will confess that I have only started eating peppers, cooked and raw, in the past 12 months.  I am noticing that with cooking more, my tastes and preferences are changing.  I am very excited about this.

So I stuffed my cute little peppers.  Here is the before and after pictures.

Yum!

 

Both recipes were a success.  I saved both and even passed the tilapia recipe along to my step-sister.

QUESTIONS: Do you like blue cheese?  Have you ever made stuffed peppers?  What do you stuff peppers with?