Tilapia & Veggies

Here's another quick seafood weeknight dinner to share with you all. I bought the fish and veggies during my weekly grocery shopping but wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them, but I was inspired by a dish my friend made recently with similar ingredients. I made this one up as I went along so there are lots of opportunities to tweak things to make it to your liking.

I started off by seasoning the tilapia fillets with salt and pepper on both sides. You can use any white fish you like, but you need something that will hold up to a little bit of pan frying.

Tilapia is a blank canvas

The night before I sliced up three bell peppers and one onion. I love all the different pepper colors, so pretty! Next time I will only use half an onion, it had a little too much this time around.

Next I heated up 1 Tb of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet, over medium high heat. I threw the veggies in the pan, sprinkled on some kosher salt and pepper and sauteed them until they began to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Don't cook them all the way because they will go in the oven later and can finish cooking there. Remove the veggies and set them aside on a plate.

I added another 2 Tb of olive oil to the pan and let it heat up. Then I added the tilapia to the pan and seared them briefly, about 3 minutes per side. I didn't want to cook them through either, just wanted them to get some nice color. 

I didn't take any pictures of these steps in the pan because hot oil splashed on to my arm when I carelessly threw the veggies in, and so I figured I better put the camera down and pay attention. Job hazard I tell ya.

Once the fish was done on the second side, I put them on the bed of veggies I 'd set aside (in an ovenproof baking dish). 

A complete meal

At this point I decided it needed a sauce because it was looking a little dry. I rummaged through my pantry and found a can of coconut milk so I popped it open and poured into the pan. In a minute or so it started boiling so I lowered the heat to medium-low just to keep it simmering. Using a wooden spoon I scraped up  all the yummy bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (i.e. deglazed the pan), because those are basically nuggets of flavor! I seasoned the coconut milk with a few splashes of fish sauce, and squeezed in some lemon juice (a generous wedge) to help balance out the richness. Next time I think I will add green curry paste and kaffir leaf, for a Thai-style dish. You could also deglaze the pan with chicken broth, white wine and a few Tb of butter for a nice smooth sauce. The possibilities are endless!

Once I was satisfied with the seasoning of the sauce, I poured it over the fish and veggies, then into the oven the whole dish went. I cooked it for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees, just to finish cooking the fish. And for some final color and freshness, I added chopped parsley. Done and done!

We ate the fish with quinoa (Cruz preferred rice), and it was a tasty meal without any heaviness. 

The whole meal took me under an hour to cook, perfect for a weeknight!