Dinner is served!

So, I thought I might share this evening's recipe a) because I haven't posted one in a long time and b) b/c it looks and smells fabulous!!
On the menu this evening at Lago's lounge is Stuffed Baked Tilapia over Spinach with green beans and salad.

Place the spinach in a pot of cold water.

First I marinated the tilapia in my own blend of herbs and EVOO:
EVOO 1/2 cup
handful of fresh parsley finely chopped
handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped,
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
paprika, smoked sweet Spanish (I get mine from LaTienda.com)
onion powder
Sea Salt
fresh ground pepper

Place these ingredients together in a small bowl and mix well. In a 1 gallon Ziploc bag place your tilapia fillets (in our case, it's 2) and pour the mix in the bag. A la style of Emeril, close the bag and shake well. Let marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.

While the tilpia was marinating I made the salad using a mescalin mix lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber, green peppers and pears. I then prepared the tilapia stuffing . I chopped :
handful of spinach
1 celery sprig
1/4 of a green pepper
1/2 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a large portabello mushroom
4 tbspns EVOO
1/4 pound of sea scallops
1/4 pound large shrimp
4 tbspsn of cheese of your choice (I used smoked gouda and guirre)

Heat 1/2 of the EVOO in a small pan and then add the onion, spinach, mushroom, 1/2 garlic, celery and green pepper. In another pan add 2 tbspns of EVOO, heat and add garlic, scallops and shrimp( the shrimp have been deveined and cleaned and chopped prior to cooking). Cook until celery is soft and seafood is just cooked. Mix contents of both pans together. Add cheeses and set aside for a moment.

Preheat oven to 350 and turn on burner for spinach to medium heat.

Remove tilapia form marinade and place on parchment paper or a cutting board. Stuff with the filling made above and tie closed with cooking twine. Place in a square pan that has been oiled and bake in oven for 25 minutes.

After 10 minutes of cooking, add the green beans to the oven on a separate sheet (I usually top mine with salt, pepper, garlic and EVOO).

After about 20 minutes the spinach should been a bit tender but still look leafy and not that dark green color....strain and place on plates in a thin layer (the tilapia Will rest on the spinach bed).
Green beans are finfished when they are bright and crisp. Remove from oven at this time (about 15 minutes)
When the Tilapia is finished, remove the time and place on plates over spinach.
Add green beans on the side. I serve salad on a separate plate with choice of dressing.

No dessert here, always too much food...

Post Script- dinner was delicious!! the Tilapia tends to take on the flavor of the things around it, so herbs are particularly important.

Bon Appetite