Caramelized Onions with Cranberries, Fried Tilapia, Roasted Broccoli

The star of this meal is the caramelized onions with cranberries. I saw this on PBS the other day but they used a different kind of berry that I didn't have.... but I do have cranberries, lots and lots in fact. They add a wonderful tartness to the sweet onions. And serving it with fish was perfect but you could serve it with just about anything. 

Below is the complete meal. Fried tilapia and roasted broccoli, super easy to make. 

And I wanted to share Christmas decoration pictures with you this week but I've turned into Scrooge McDuck. I have no holiday spirit. At all. I haven't even put up the tree. So to try to bring back some holiday cheer I've decided to make a list of my holiday favorites. 

Here we go:

1. Favorite Christmas cookie: Mexican wedding cookies, sugar cookies, jam cookies.
2. Decor: Gingerbread men. I have wreaths, cups, teapots, etc. Second would be snowmen.
3. Music: My mom always listened to Amy Grant Christmas songs so I think of them first during Christmas. But I also like the old classics.
4. Movies: The super old cartoons (The Year Without a Santa Claus, Rudolph, etc).
5. Traditions: Making cookies, decorating stockings, hot chocolate, opening one gift on Christmas Eve, leaving cookies out for Santa.
6. Lights: Clear, no blinking, no music, no nothin'.
7. Outside decor: All natural if possible. I like to collect branches, pine cones, etc. and hang them up with ribbons.
8. Gifts: I like to receive dishes of any kind --- pottery, pyrex, Walmart, Kohls, I don't care... I just love anything kitchen/cooking related. Duh. :) Since that was so obvious I'll add classic novels, scarves, perfume, and bags to the list as well.
9. Tree: Real would be my favorite but I don't want to spend the money, so we go with fake.
10. Food: Roast beef, summer sausage, cheese cheese cheese, freshly baked bread with flavored butter, tuna ball (I'll post the recipe soon)......

What are some of your holiday favorites??

Roasted Broccoli: 

1. Preheat oven to 400F. 
2. Drizzle with some Extra Virgin Olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until tender. 
3. Squeeze on a bit of lemon juice and serve.

Fried Tilapia: 

1. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil (this is a shallow fry) and heat over medium-high. 
2. Once the oil heats up, dredge the fish (4 fillets) in a mixture of all-purpose flour (1/4 cup or so), salt and paprika (1 teaspoon), place into the oil and cook about 3 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the fillet. Do not dredge the fish in the flour before the oil heats up, this is not something you want to do in advance.

Caramelized Onions with Cranberries
Serving Size = 2
Original Recipe

• 2 small/medium onions, chopped
• 2 - 3 tablespoons or so of cranberries, cut in half
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• Salt
• Sugar (a few teaspoons)

1. Toss the onions with a generous sprinkle (about 2 teaspoons) of sugar and a bit of salt to taste. Let set for 10 mins or so to get the water out.
2. Heat a large skillet somewhere between medium low and medium heat. Melt the butter in the skillet. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until softened. This should take roughly 20 - 30 minutes. At the end, you can turn the heat to medium to get some color if necessary.
3. At the end, add the cranberries and warm them up for a minute or two. Serve.

Linking to: Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday, Gallery of Favorites