Baked Tilapia

Now I will warn everyone that I am not a fan of fish.....I love  crab, shrimp and scallops but fish, no thank you.   Since moving to the midwest I have been trying to expand my horizon and have had countless people try to tell me that fresh water fish has a different taste thnt fish from the sea.  This past summer I finally caved after catching my own fish and having a fish fry, and honestly its true, fresh water fish is really an easy fish to start with.  So this past week I decided to be brave, and to be honest also to get some stuff out of my freezer.  The hubby had previously bought some frozen tilapia fillets and so I thought I would search out a way to use them that sounded appetizing to me.
So of course I go to me favorite site...Pinterest. I found one that looked good just called baked fish, so I looked at the recipe, not only is it a quick one but its simple and light, and lately I have been making some heavy foods.  According to the recipe that I found it calls for Haddock fillets, but hey use what you got, I of course asked the hubby if tilapia would work, flavor wise, because I had no idea how it tastes.

Ingredients:

2 large (about 12 oz each) haddock fillets (or any fish you like)

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little more to grease the baking sheet

1 small onion, finely diced

1 large clove garlic, minced

6 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried) thyme

3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley, divided

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Fresh lemon, for serving

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Line a baking/cookie sheet with parchment paper and brush with olive oil.

3.  In a small skillet; heat olive oil over low heat, add the onion and garlic, and cook until just tender (about 6 minutes)

4.  Add Panko breadcrumbs and cook until lightly golden brown, stirring frequently.

5.  Turn off heat and add 2 tablespoons (TBSP) parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper.

6.  Pat the fish dry with a paper towel, and lay it down on baking sheet.  Drizzle about 1 teaspoon (tsp) of lemon juice on each fillet.  

7.  Top each fillet with breadcrumb mixture and cook about 10-15 minutes

Top with the  remaining parsley and serve with a lemon slice.

http://www.anediblemosaic.com/?p=6129

TIP: make sure to mince the onion and garlic very well, almost to a paste, you want small enough pieces of each so that it will not over power the flavor and you wont get huge chunks in a single bite.

This is a quick easy and tasty meal that I would actually eat again...which is saying something.  I served the fish with some corn and that paired quite nicely.

ENJOY!