Only temporary though! I had an issue with that when I was in High School. One of my best friends from childhood swung a nasty jab when we were in 10th grade. She was crass in some biased way saying Latin people this, that and the other! BOO to her, right! I say us Latin’s rock. Just turn Television or Univsion on and you’ll see all kinds of hot Latina’s, naturally endowed and curvier than Beyoncè’s fake weave… (I hear she spends like 70k on any given do!). We even got tone deaf J. Lo. I’ll leave my friend unnamed for the sake of maintaining a tight bond till it’s all over. I’ll just jack her Jimmy Choo’s when she’s not looking. They say payback is a B-B-B-B……(tif, tif)

That friend made me more proud to be the Latin woman I am today. And I gets down. I’ll be that girl from the hood in a minute….OKAY, no I won’t, really, but I’ll get real sassy feisty on you if you dare swing at me. That Cuban thaaang will bite you. My 5′2″ stature should not put you at ease. Okay for real, while I’m all proud that I was born in Cuba and boast a great diverse background, I don’t mind pretending, if just for a moment, that I’m a member of another ethnic group. Just for a moment.

I offer you here, gals (and guys) a really simple meal if you’re cooking for your man (or girl) for the first time! I know you’re thinking, ‘yeah okay, cook for that L-O-S-E-R‘, I promise you if he is lacking in any area of your modern romance, this fork full might begin to yield results that’ll keep you patient–(wait, why is he a loser so early in the game?? hmmm). He might even do the dishes. Since it’s not time to whip out the pressure cooker, killer pumps or hood fan on him, a simple, but tasty meal will suffice. I found this tilapia recipe on Epicurious a few months back and decided to prepare it for my parents first right before Christmas. They loved it, after 5 minutes, so I figured the guy would too. He’s in this battle for $5,000 if he’s able to out crunk 5 other studs in L.A. This meal would be very fitting. He initially said he wasn’t going to eat cuz he had no appetite but when I announced dinner was ready and I was about to tear my fish up, he broke. I have that effect, if you don’t know (ego talking). It’s from Ventotene, Italy, super simple and very, very rico! And, yeah, super quick. Rachel Ray can’t even beat me on this one. Remember she’s got assistants and minioñs making about $12/hr.

This is full of flavor, lots of color and best of all, healthy (& spicy, spicy, spicy). I’m not sure what los Italianos would couple with it, but for me, white rice is perfect. Don’t use Jasmine, which I prefer, b/c it’ll compete with the flavors of the fish. The plain white compliments quite well. I don’t have a name for it either. Something like “Tomato Olive Tilapia” or “Fish in 20 Minutes“. I don’t know. And don’t care, really. You can call it “Matador Fish” if you want.

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I apologize for the pics not being all that great, but I was so geeked to be eating this again, that I didn’t really care to focus on plating, etc…oh wait, I forgot, I con’d Dave into taking a few pics for me at my parents house since I didn’t have my camera on me. So here are two versions: for him and for mami and papi, both with equal parts of love.

Taken @ my parent’s by Dave P. Notice how you barely see fillet of fish. He helped himself to the thickest piece before taking the picture. Go figure.

Now, this is the version for him. The shot isn’t all that great, but I’ll be crazy to tell you the food wasn’t. Ask him.

PLEASE DO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. IT IS FUSION AFTER ALL. WHITE SPANISH RICE WITH ITALIAN PREPARED FISH. I THINK I’M ON TO SOMETHING HERE. REALLY THO, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS DISH. I HAPPEN TO LOVE IT AND TO QUOTE THE GUY: “I CAN EAT THIS EVERY DAY, BABY”. RIGHT. AND HE DID THE DISHES.

SPICY TILAPIA WITH TOMATOES & OLIVES

Ingredients:

• 1/2  lb. fresh tilapia (about 3-4 filets)
• bunch of fresh curly parsley, about 5 stems, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 7-8 cherry tomatoes or 1 whole tomato (cut in half or fours if using whole tomato)(I used whole tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, cut in half (I used black olives and they were just as good!)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Add fish to skillet and sauté until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to platter and set aside. Add tomatoes, olives, and garlic to same skillet; sauté until tomatoes are soft and juicy, about 2 minutes. Add parsley and crushed red pepper to same skillet. Season sauce with salt and pepper if needed. Spoon over fish and serve with white rice. (you may substitute tilapia for orange roughy or red snapper).

Serves you and him, twice.

Kick off your shoes and watch him straighten his back. Enjoy!