Simply Tasty Tilapia
A quick, yummy way to cook tilapia
Sometimes I like cooking complicated things, but at other times, I don't want to expend the effort or I simply don't have the time. That is when I go to my freezer and pull out some handy tilapia fillets.
My grocery store has small bags of individually packaged fish fillets that are usually both inexpensive and tasty. They are handy for most fish recipes, and they don't even need to be thawed.
This recipe is written for 1, but can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1-2* tilapia (or other white fish) fillets
¼ -½ teaspoon thyme
¼-½ teaspoon salt
¼-½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
*depending on size. Don't forget they shrink a bit after cooking, so if a single frozen fillet looks on the small side, you may want to opt for two.
Don't Bother Measuring!
You can measure precisely if you like, but the beauty of this recipe is that simply sprinkling the seasonings and juice over the fillets works just as well.
Process
1. Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat.
2. Place fillets in pan and pour half the lemon juice over the fillets.
3. Sprinkle half the thyme, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper over fillets.
4. Cook for 4 minutes, then flip.
5. Pour remaining lemon juice over fillets, and sprinkle with remaining seasonings.
6. Cook an additional 4 minutes or until fish easily flakes. Then serve.
Spice Alternatives
Any of the seasonings can be easily adjusted for taste or swapped for other seasonings. For example, I sometimes replace the thyme with basil and tarragon. Go crazy and experiment!
Tell us what you think!
When you don't feel like putting a lot of effort into dinner and just want something quick. What do you you? What is an acceptable quick-and-easy dinner for you?
What do you end up serving for dinner when you don't feel like cooking?
Did you know...?
In fishery terms, there are two categories of fish: White (or demersal) fish, such as haddock, cod, and tilapia, and oily (or pelagic) fish, like salmon, trout, and anchovies. White fish live near the sea floor and only have oil in their livers, while oily fish live in water columns and have oil in their meat as well.
The important part, of course, is which tastes better?