Monday, April 14, 2014

You've Got Time for This: Tasty Baked Tilapia with Mixed Squash


Sometimes the title says it all. If it doesn’t, add HEALTHY and MOUTHWATERING if boosting the adjective count does the trick for you.

Weekday or weekend dinner in a cinch! One dish, bake, and eat.
Try this! You’ll be happy you did.

Baked Tilapia with Mixed Squash
Yield: Serves 2 – 4
Special Equipment: Roasting pan

The Method: The Ingredients
4 medium squash (mixed 2 yellow, 2 green), fresh or 1 lb. bag of frozen
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tsps. Paprika, divided
2 tsps. of favorite all-purpose seasoning, divided
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 Tilapia Fillets (4 oz. each)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, quartered
5 short sprigs of thyme (2 – 3 long springs)


The Madness: The Assembly
Less than ten minutes to prep this dish, makes this entire process fast and efficient.

Preheat oven to 350˚
Quickly rinse the Tilapia under cold water. Pat the fish dry, set aside. Mince (finely chop) the garlic cloves.  Prepare the onion by peeling it, cutting it in half, and thinly slicing across each half. Make sure to slice the onion thinly. Next time I prepare this dish, I will slice the onion even thinner than I did this time. Make sure that all of the slices are about the same in length and width for even and complete cooking. Remove the leaves from your thyme stems by holding the tip of the sprig with one hand, then running your thumb, index and middle finger of your other in a pinching motion hand down the stem. Set the leaves aside. Measure out the olive oil, and your seasonings, set them aside.

Mix your sliced onions and squash together, add these vegetables to your roasting pan. Sprinkle these vegetables with 1 tsp each of the paprika and all-purpose seasoning.  Add the minced garlic. Fully mix the garlic into the vegetables. Don’t be afraid to get in there with your hands (they are clean, aren't they?!). Once the vegetable have been mixed together, drizzle them with the extra virgin olive oil.


Season the Tilapia fillets with the remaining paprika and all-purpose seasoning. Layer the seasoned Tilapia fillets on top of the prepared vegetables.
Top each fillet with ½ tbsp. (2 cubes) of the unsalted butter.

Finish the seasoned butter-topped fillets with a dusting of the thyme leaves.

 
Place the roasting pan in the preheated oven, roasting this meal uncovered for approximately 15 – 17 minutes.
 
 
In no time, dinner is served! We thoroughly enjoyed this as a filling meal on its own; however, I’m sure that it would go well with rice, or even cornbread. Actually, I now wish that I had considered the cornbread sooner. Note to self.

 
As always, Enjoy!
xo, Bon Appégeechee
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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