Non-Cook Cooking 3

This week I made tilapia, roasted asparagus and a special version of mashed potatoes.  I confess, I've made tilapia this way before, but what's different is the roasted asparagus and potatoes.

Here's how I achieved this masterpiece, if you're interested- 

• Tilapia -  rinse and dry the fish, then put in pan (I lined mine with aluminum foil making clean-up easier).  Coat lightly with olive oil, top with bread crumbs, paprika and crushed almonds.   Pour approx. 1/2" of lemon juice on bottom of pan (a lot of it will evaporate or be absorbed).  Bake at 350 for approx. 20 minutes.
  

• Roasted Asparagus -  rinse and dry, put in pan (separate from fish), drizzle olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss.   Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
  

• Mashed Potatoes-  using Yukon Gold potatoes, rinse and cut into 1 1/2" pieces leaving the skin on (the skin is very soft and once mashed you won't even know it's there).   Boil in salted water until soft.  Mash, then add sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, butter and milk to taste, mix with blender to desired consistency.
  

The asparagus was surprisingly awesome - I'm guessing the roasting brought out the sweetness.  I was eating the asparagus by itself it was so good (-something I would normally never do.  Who is this girl?).

One thing I learned was to under-cook the asparagus if you're going to be microwaving it later for left-overs.  That way it doesn't get too soft.  Mine got a little mushy but still very good.

Here's a big secret I learned from Tyler Florence on The Food Network - use Yukon Gold potatoes.  He said it's the mac-daddy, the creme de la creme, the numero uno of potatoes and he wasn't kidding.  They're a tad sweeter with a much fuller taste than the traditional brown potato.   

• TIP - I didn't have a masher for the potatoes so I used the best thing I could find in my Non-Cook Kitchen - a whip.  It worked so well that I have no need for a masher now. 

Simply awesome and so achievable for Non-Cooks.

  

Bon Appetite!