Leftovers Make Solar Cooked Meal New Again!

A Little Twist on the Coconut Mahi Mahi Recipe

 What do you do with the extra servings from a previous recipe -- play!  A few days ago, I shared the recipe I created for the January Royal Foodie Joust at theleftoverqueen.com site.  Voting won't start until February 1st, but it's there midst all the other entries. Remember that I mentioned I would prefer grouper or cod instead of mahi mahi?  Well, looking at the leftover coconut rice, I decided to get some cod and see if my theory was on track, or not.

So, using the same recipe as my original plus a few minor adjustments, a delicious second meal was created! This time around, I chose not to use fennel bulbs. But, since I was still working with the coconut flavorings, I decided to use the coconut flakes drained from the Coconut Milk with pine nuts for a coating.

First, the coconut flakes were squeezed in some paper towels to remove any residual moisture. Then, they were spread out to air-dry for about a half hour.  (When they will fall like snow from your fingers, they're dry enough.)

The cod pieces were removed from the marinade and placed in the roasting pan. In one teaspoon of butter over medium-high heat, 1/2 cup of coconut flakes was toasted with 1/4 cup of pine nuts. When the pine nuts were starting to brown, the pan was removed from the heat and the mixture spread evenly over the cod fillets. Two green onion stalks were set across the fillets for flavor along with 1 Tablespoon of marinade.

Following directions for solar cooking,  the cod was cooked in a 275F solar oven for 35 minutes.

Reheated both the leftover coconut rice mixture and sauce in the microwave for six minutes at the power of four (two steps above defrost, on my oven).  For variety, I steamed a broccoli head in 2 Tablespoons of water. When done, a light spritz of lemon juice was added. It was delicious -- and, I was right -- the cod is much better for this recipe than the mahi mahi because it's a flakier more porous fish and absorbed the flavors more evenly. 

Hope you'll give both recipes a try!