A Walk on the Healthy Side

Contrary to my previous posts, I generally cook quite healthy, especially since I don’t just cook for myself. I also feed my husband, Shawn, and his health is important to me. Once a week, I try to cook some kind of fish. Usually, I switch between salmon, tuna, and tilapia. If I just can’t get in the mood for fish, I try to do a vegetarian meal instead. (Vegetarian recipes coming soon)! My husband would probably eat spaghetti, pizza, and lasagna every day of his life and be completely happy, but that is a lot of red meat. So, I came across this fish recipe in Cosmopolitan magazine of all places. (seriously, if you ignore all the smutty articles and full-page lipstick ads, the recipes are darn good). Best of all, on a weeknight, you can make this lovely fish AND the sides in under 20 minutes.

Here’s what you need to do:

1.     Put a pot with 1 inch of water and 3 cups of broccoli florets on the stove. Cover the pot and allow broccoli to steam until bright green and tender. (Should be ready in 12 or so minutes).

2.     Meanwhile, peel 2 lbs. sweet potatoes and cut into chunks. Place in a microwave-safe bowl with a tbsp or two of water and microwave until tender, about ten minutes. Mash the potato chunks with ¼ cup butter and ¼ cup honey. Cover to keep warm.

3.     In a small bowl, mix together 1 ½ tsp. paprika, ½ tsp each salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Coat 4 tilapia fillets in spice mixture on both sides.

4.     Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a sauté pan and place fillets in pan. Tilapia cooks very quickly! Once it has lost its pinkish-gray color and appears golden, it’s ready. 2-3 minutes per side.

5.     Drain broccoli and season with lemon-pepper.

**Note: In this photo, I used a mixture of broccoli and cauliflower and made a quick cheese sauce. However, I usually serve this with plain steamed broccoli. I just needed to get rid of a pesky head of cauliflower for this shot.