Orange Cashew Rice {With Baked Tilapia} or The Michael Douglas extraordinaire

So, this was surprisingly good. I had my cousin over for dinner, I almost didn’t make it because it didn’t sound as good once I printed it off, but I’m so glad I did. I give it an 8.8. It’s awesome. And my picture is blurry, or non awesome. Sorry about that.

Orange Cashew Rice {With Baked Tilapia}

Yield: Serves 4

Note: If you don't have basmati rice on hand, you can try substituting long grain white rice since it has the same basic rice-to-liquid ratio. Also, if your cashews are untoasted/unroasted, simply scatter them in a skillet and toast them for a few minutes on the stovetop for a few minutes until golden.

Ingredients

For the rice:

• 1 cup water, I used all water and just added a scoop of orange juice concentrate to the liquid 
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest I just used one orange
• 1 tablespoon olive oil I put this on afterward, not while the rice was cooking
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup basmati rice I used brown rice
• 1/2 cup roasted cashew pieces I increased this
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow peppers I left this out
• 1/4 cup chopped red peppers I used a whole pepper
• 3 green onions, minced
• 1 (8-ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained well I used real mandarin orange pieces 

  For the tilapia: I pretty much did my own thing. My cousin Michael suggested I add paprika to the fish, which was a fantastic suggestion. Afterward, I made a cilantro lime butter with butter, cilantro, lime zest, and lime juice, and then spooned that on top of the fish when I served it.

• 4 (6 to 8 ounce each) tilapia fillets
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 lime, finely grated zest and juice
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces

Directions

1. For the rice, in a 2-quart saucepan, bring the water, orange juice, orange zest, olive oil and salt to a boil. Stir in the rice. Cover the saucepan and lower the heat to a gentle simmer, simmering the rice for 25-30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through and the liquid has totally evaporated. Let stand, covered, off the heat for 5-10 minutes. Scrape the rice into a large bowl. Add the cashew pieces, peppers and green onions. Season with salt and pepper and add the drained orange segments to the rice, folding them in gently to prevent the oranges from breaking.
2. For the tilapia, while the rice simmers, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and coat a 9-10 inch cast iron pan with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse the tilapia and pat dry. Place the fish in the cast iron pan in a single layer. Season each fillet on both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle lime zest over the fish and drizzle with lime juice. Place a pat of butter on each fillet. Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until cooked through. Serve rice and fish immediately, spooning pan juices over fish, if desired. 

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/03/orange-cashew-rice-with-baked-tilapia.html

recipe retrieved 2/13/14 from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/03/orange-cashew-rice-with-baked-tilapia.html