Lemon Tilapia

So keeping with the discussion of an easy weeknight meal and one that is healthy for you too, I will share this Lemon Tilapia recipe that I came up with after watching a cooking show.  You will find that the lemon in this recipe does a pretty good job of masking that fishy smell that can permeate the house after dinner.  The flavor is very light and lemony and doesn't have a fishy taste at all.  My wife loves to have her homemade cocktail sauce with fish but she enjoys the taste of this so much she leaves the sauce for another time.

My inspiration for this dish came from watching 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network for the first time. It was a very nicely done show where the hostess chooses meals that have basically 5 ingredients.  She showed a Tuna Salad recipe that looks amazing using Tuna Steaks, Grapes, Walnuts, Lemons and Greek Yogurt.  The Tuna Steaks were cooked with the lemon in parchment paper and came out nice and moist and then they were flaked into the mixture of the other ingredients.  I really want to try that recipe some time and I'll let you know how it turns out.

For this recipe you will want the following: 

• 2 Tilpia fillets or other meaty fish steak or fillets
• 1 or 2 organic lemons depending on the size of the fish
• Salt and Pepper
• Parchment Paper

Now a note on the ingredients, I used frozen tilapia from Costco that I thawed in the fridge all day.  The Good Food Store also has some great tilapia fillets and you can often find them on sale.  You can use any other meaty fish like cod, halibut or tuna.  Next, usually when purchasing citrus you do not need to get organic varieties unless you plan to use the rind.  In this recipe we will be zesting the lemon so you don't want a rind that has had pesticides sprayed on it.  Finally, you will want some parchment paper.  You can find this in most grocery stores where the foil and plastic wrap is sold.  I use a unbleached parchment paper that is made out of recycled paper at the Good Food Store.  If you haven't used parchment paper before it is very handy to have around.  A friend of mine loves to use it when baking cookies.  It can also make clean up a little easier.

First preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Zest or grate some of the lemon rind onto a small dish or cutting board and set aside.  Be sure not to zest any of the pith, also know as the white part of the rind, it can be very bitter.  Next slice up the lemon into 1/4 inch slices.  Take the fish fillets and dry with a paper towel.  

Take a large piece of parchment paper and lay onto a cookie sheet or rimmed pan.  Lay the lemon slices down in such a way that you can lay your fillets on top of them.  Next salt and pepper both sides of the fillet and then place on top of the lemon slices.  Finally sprinkle some of the lemon zest on top of each of the fillets.

Bring both ends of the parchment paper lengthwise together and fold a few times until it just about reaches the fish.  Take the short ends of the parchment paper and roll or fold them a few times and tuck under the fish if needed.  Basically, you have just created a packet for the fish to steam in.  Place the baking pan with the fish in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

I love to serve this with a rice pilaf mixture with wild rice and some green beans.  A salad would also taste great with this.  As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments.