I started out making the rice. I took 1 cup of brown rice and put it into a medium pot. I then took slightly less than 2 cups of water, added 2 tbsp. tomato paste, 1 tbsp. chipotle peppers from a jar, 1 tbsp. of butter and a pinch of salt and heated it for 2 minutes in the microwave to melt everything together. I added the liquid to the pot of rice and cooked it, covered, on low heat for 40 minutes.
While the rice was cooking, I took two 4-ounce tilapia fillets, patted them dry with a paper towel, sprinkled salt and pepper on both sides and pan fried them in a bit of olive oil for about 3 minutes, uncovered, on each side over medium heat. I then set that aside.
Then, I took the white part of 1 leek, cut it lengthwise and then into about half-inch pieces (half a regular onion can be used as well) and set that aside. I then roughly chopped 3 roma tomatoes and 1/4 cup of green olives, reserving about 2 tbsp. of the olive brine. I also cut into a small dice 1 small chili pepper (not sure of the variety since it was grown in my mom's garden). I then heated about 2 tbsp. olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, added about 1/2 tsp. minced garlic and then added the leeks and sauteed them for about 3 minutes until tender.
Then I added the tomatoes, pepper, olives, olive brine, 2 tbsp. good tequila, 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 tsp. tomato paste, 1 tsp. dijon mustard, and 1 tsp. of the chipotle pepper juice and let it cook on high, stirring frequently, until the liquid reduced by half (about 3 minutes). After which, I turned the heat off, added salt to taste and a pat of butter to finish it off. Once the rice was done, I plated the rice and fish and topped both with the chunky sauce. Healthy, delicious and reminds me of Mexico.
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