Cumin-Orange Fish on a Bed of Spaghetti Squash

We've discovered tilapia!

Cumin-Orange Fish on a Bed of Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash
2-4 small thawed tilapia fillets (1-2 per person depending on how hungry you are)
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup raw almonds
1 medium orange (grate and reserve zest)
1 tbsp butter
Olive oil for greasing pan
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ginger
1 medium clove garlic, minced, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried dill

An hour ahead of time, cut the squash in half and bake, cut side down, at 375 for about an hour. Remove from oven.

Scrape spaghetti strands from squash. In a medium mixing bowl, mix squash, raisins, spices, 1 tbsp butter,orange zest, and garlic. Squeeze a small amount of the orange juice over the squash; stir gently. Add salt to taste. Cover and keep warm.

Preheat oven to 450. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with oil to prevent sticking. Place fish fillets on baking sheet. Squeeze orange juice over the fish and sprinkle with dill. Cut thin slices from the orange and place on top of the fish. Cook 4-5 minutes, flip, and cook 4-5 minutes more (just put the orange slices on top again), until flakes easily and is no longer transparent. Meanwhile, chop almonds and toast them in a pan.

To serve: put half the squash mixture on each plate. Top with fish, with the orange slices on top. Sprinkle with nuts, and squeeze the remaining 1/3 orange over the plates.

Serves 2

Turkish-Vacation Salmon

Finally used the dried tomatoes we brought back from Turkey last year -- as well as almost the last of the pomegranate molasses!

Turkish-Vacation Salmon

1 1-lb salmon fillet, frozen
1 very large or 2 medium zucchini, cut into quarters lengthwise and then sliced
1 cup dried tomatoes, shredded (not reconstituted)
1.5 medium onions, diced
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
large pinch dried hyssop or oregano
salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
drizzle of pomegranate molasses

Preheat a George Forman type grill. Meanwhile, saute the zucchini and onion in the canola oil about 5 minutes. At this point, put the frozen fish directly on the grill. Cook it for 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. While it is cooking, add the dried tomatoes and sesame oil to the vegetables, along with about a quarter cup of water. Continue to cook until the salmon is done or until you decide the zucchini is too soft. Add a large pinch of hyssop to the vegetables; salt to taste.

Pile the vegetables onto a platter and lay the fish on top. Drizzle with lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. Serve hot.

Serves 2.

Salmon Tacos

We ate these recently. This sauce is adapted from Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories. It's amazing. You could just eat it forever.

Salmon Tacos

1 recipe Green Sauce (except use only 1/2 cup coconut milk unless it absolutely won't blend without more, and include the stems. You can also leave out the mint or basil, and substitute jalapeno peppers).

1 large salmon filet
Spinach leaves
Corn tortillas
(Chopped red bell pepper, optional)

Grill the salmon on a George Forman type grill (if it's frozen, it may take a bit longer -- even close to 10 minutes).
Flake the salmon. To make tacos, put some salmon, some spinach, and more sauce than you think necessary into a tortilla; add red bell pepper if you want; eat.

Number of servings depends on the size of your filet; I would say at least 5.

Zinc Salmon

Made this for Shabbat but didn't manage to take a picture before dinner. I had seen a fish-with-tahini recipe recently, and thought it might work well. But tahini is kind of bitter on its own, so I wanted to sweeten it a little bit. And my boyfriend recently moved a bottle of molasses into my house that I wanted to experiment with... Turns out that molasses is an ideal complement to tahini--they both have that little bitter edge. This got great reviews--I'm looking forward to trying it again. Not what you'd call a lowfat or low calorie dish, but good for a party.

Be warned that the quantities are approximate--more of a suggestion than a recipe.
PS I'm calling it Zinc Salmon because a Google search for "sesame and molasses" informs me that--get ready--both are great sources of zinc.

Zinc Salmon

About 3 1/2 lb salmon filet (enough for about 8ish people)
About 1/2 cup tahini
2 tbsp molasses
3 lemons, or enough to cover the bottom of your pan(s) in slices
2 tbsp sesame seeds
One sweet onion, thinly sliced
A little neutral oil to cook the onion

Saute the onion until it is translucent. Add the sesame seeds to the pan, stir well to coat the onion, and cook until the onion and seeds begin to color. Remove from heat.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Slice the lemons thinly and cover the bottom of the pan with the slices. Lay your fish filet or filet pieces on top of the lemons. In a small pitcher or bowl, mix the tahini and molassess. Add water by the tablespoon until the mixture is pourable. Spread a thin layer over the fish with the back of a spoon. Spread the onion-sesame seed mixture evenly over the fish. Drizzle with the remaining tahini-molasses mixture.
Roast about 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the filet. Let cool to room temperature before serving. You can eat the lemon slices or not, as you see fit.

Serves 8-10.