I am a huge fan of local seafood and whenever I am in New Orleans, I like to stop at Castnet’s to stock my freezer with fresh fish and shrimp. Once home, I will often break down my load into individual serving bags for easy use later. I.e. 5 large shrimp for an easy dinner with rice and vegetables, or a pound of medium shrimp for okra and shrimp or gumbo etc. Of course if you don’t make regular trips to The Big Easy, you can always stock up when your local store runs specials or sales on your favorite seafood. If stored properly, you can have freshly frozen seafood on hand for several months. In this dish I used a black drum fillet and an individual serving bag of large shrimp. You can substitute your favorite type of white fish if you do not like or have drum. This dish took 20 minutes to make and was easy to dish up for lunch the next day. A side salad of cucumber and tomato or any combination you’d prefer is an easy addition to this dish and a great way to get in additional vegetables. The recipe is listed below. As always feedback is welcomed!
Citrus Fish and Broccoli Rice

Serves 2

Rice ingredients:
1/4 cup dry rice
1/4 cup of chicken stock
1/8 cup white wine
1/8 cup green onion
1/2 cup frozen broccoli
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder

Seafood ingredients:
1 large or two medium fillets of white fish (skin on optional)
2-3 large shrimp per person
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp. olive, coconut or avocado oil

Directions:
1. In a small pot, rinse and strain rice, then add liquids and green onion over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it boils, top the pot and reduce to low heat. Set timer for 20 minutes.
2. Rinse fish and peel and devein shrimp if fresh.
3. Add oil to a large non-stick pan over medium heat. While it heats, add half of the seasoning to the fish and shrimp.
4. Place the fish in skillet skin down if keeping skin, and let sear for 3 minutes.
5. Season and sear the other side for 3 minutes, reserving a little seasoning for the other side of the shrimp.
6. While the fish sears, add broccoli and seasoning to rice and stir before topping the top to finish cooking.
7. Move the fish to one side and add the shrimp seasoned-side down before adding the orange juice and a splash of water to prevent sticking. Season and flip shrimp after 2 minutes to cook the other side before removing to a plate. *Shrimp cook quickly so be careful not to over cook them.
8. Check the thickest part of the fish gently with a fork in the center to ensure it is white throughout and not translucent or a grayish color which would mean the fish is not cooked.
9. Turn off rice and plate it first, then the fish and shrimp.
10. Enjoy