6.07.2010

Tilapia to Make You Happy-a!

Super super healthy and easy as anything, even for weenie freaks like me who are completely intimidated by the idea of cooking fish. (I grew up in a house where we never ate fish unless we were scooping it out of a can and into our mac and cheese.) Anyways, this recipe is soooo easy and makes a delicious, citrus-y summer dinner for the whole fam in under 30 minutes. Guaranteed to make you happy-a!

I found this recipe in the June 2010 "Parents" magazine and then tweaked it to meet my needs, which included cooking the fish quite a bit longer than necessary to appease my undercooked-fish-will-give-me-cooties fear. I also added more veggies, used lemons instead of oranges, skipped the salt, and switched out Mrs.Dash for my favorite organic seasoning blend.

Let's get going. Preheat your oven to 400'.

Gather:
- 4 boneless tilapia filets (2-3 oz. each)
- 24 asparagus spears
- 1 TBSP seasons blend (my favorite organic blend from CostCo is pictured or Mrs.Dash garlic herb)
- 2 liz lemons
- Parchment paper
- EVOO
- Frozen organic brown rice - prepared (aim for 2 cups)
- 1/2 cup frozen organic vegetable blend - steamed

Put it together:
1. Cut the parchment paper into 4 squares, each about 12". Fold each square in half to create a pouch.

2. On each parchment page lay on one side of the fold a tilapia filet. Garnish that guy with 6 asparagus spears, drizzle lightly with EVOO, squeeze almost 1/2 of a lemon onto it, and then sprinkle with the seasoning.

(Note: between the 2 lemons you just want to set aside about 1/2 lemon worth of juice for the brown rice with veggies.)

3. Fold paper over the fish/veggies and roll up the edges of the parchment paper all around so you're creating a "sealed" pouch. Arrange your 4 pouches on a large baking sheet.

4. Bake for 17 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet 1/2 way through. At this point they should be done and you can check by testing the fish to see if it is flakey. Me, though, I keep those bad boys in there for another 5 minutes just to be sure they're d-o-n-e. (Note: "Parents" suggested a 12 minute cooking time, but I found that by almost doubling that there were no negative effects. The fish still comes out moist and lovely.)

5. While the fish is baking, prepare your organic brown rice and veggies separately. Then mix them together and squeeze about 1/2 of a lemon over the top.

6. Plate, dish, eat. Yum! Or, if you're like me, take 1 pretty picture and then throw it all in a bowl and cut it up into a homogenous gruel for your toddler.

Check out Otto scarfing down Yo Yo Baby yogurt after polishing off his tilapia, brown rice and veggies!

See (she says to herself) cooking fish doesn't have to be scary at all. And because this is cooked in parchment paper, cleanup is minimal.

-Lindsey

2 comments:

Megan Hines said...

I think it's hilarious how you decorate your photos with Otto's toys! :D

OT and ET said...

Haha, they were scattered around the kitchen during the photo shoot, just begging to be in the pics! :) xo!!