I sent to Shape Magazine this month for a little inspiration. Tilapia was on sale at the beginning of the month so I had some in the freezer and a direction to start in. And then I saw it... This Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia with Lemony Green Beans was just too much to resist.
Ingredients
For the Tilapia
4 skinless tilapia fillets (1 pound total)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried basil
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
For the Green Beans
½ pound green beans, ends trimmed
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
Preheat the broiler. Cut the tilapia fillets lengthwise into two pieces, then pat dry with a paper towel and season to taste with pepper. In a small bowl, combine basil and Parmesan cheese; set aside. In a large saucepan, bring water for beans to a boil.
Heat olive oil in a 12-inch heavy ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Sauté the fish for 3 minutes or until brown. Flip the fillets over and remove the skillet from heat. Dust the tilapia with the cheese mixture. Place the skillet under the broiler to finish cooking the fish and slightly brown the cheese, about 3 to 4 minutes.
As the fish cooks, add beans to boiling water. Lower heat and cook for 5 minutes or until bright green (beans should still be crisp). Drain beans and run under cold water. Shake off excess water and set aside.
Mix lemon juice, lemon zest, pepper, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Add green beans and toss to coat; warm for 30 seconds in the microwave. Divide fish fillets and green beans on two plates and serve.
We replaced the green beans with broccoli. I've never been much of a green bean fan and the kids love broccoli so it was a natural replacement for us. All in all, the four of us loved it. My four year old who "hates" fish said he really "appreciated" me making such a nice dinner. And my two year old said, "This is good chicken, Mommy." I didn't bother to correct her.
The broccoli had too much lemon and not enough other flavoring, which was really too bad. It made it too bitter to really be edible. So we added left over parmesan and basil from the fish to tame it out a little. I was hoping the flavor would have been like the broccoli at Red Lobster. If anyone has tips on how to get that taste, I'd love to hear them. That's my favorite broccoli.
This will definitely go back on our menu. It was fantastic. And not only did both of my kids eat it, they both actually liked it. That's a keeper in my book.
I'd love to hear if you have any fish recipes to share. So leave me a comment if you have one or if there's anything you'd like to see in this series. In the meantime, I'll keep doing searches and hopefully come up with something that will help your family out as well.
For January's recipe, see Shrimp Stir-fry.
For February's recipe, see Shrimp Quesadillas.
For March's recipe, see Fish Tacos with Lemon Butter Sauce.
Linked to these Parties.
Linked to Tasty Tuesday.
5. Finally I hole punched my flowers, two holes in each. This allows them to "lay" better on the ribbon, especially if you're going to hang it on the wall. And I threaded the ribbon through. After spacing the flowers evenly on the ribbon, I knotted each end to keep them centered, even after I put it in storage. I personally like the way the extra ribbon hangs on the end, but you could trim it off.
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