From My Perspective: What's for Dinner: Baked [and crusted] Tilapia

Saturday, February 23, 2013

What's for Dinner: Baked [and crusted] Tilapia

I think it's no surprise how much I love tilapia. I've sautéed it, grilled it, fried it, baked it. What I hadn't done yet: bake it with a breaded crust.

Let me tell you, it turned out moist, flaky, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious. I don't know what it is about bread crumbs, but the flavored of the added seasoning and spices become more apparent with it.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

I quartered each tilapia fillet [you could certainly just halve it or even leave each piece whole]. Then, I marinated the tilapia fillets with my usual salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger, chili powder, and lemon juice. No eggs, no flour, and no oil.

I ran each piece of the tilapia through [Italian-seasoned] bread crumbs, transferring each piece on to a foil-lined baking tray.

When you have breaded all the pieces, and lined them on your tray: spray a layer of non-stick cooking spray over them.

Transfer them into your preheated oven for about fifteen minutes initially. Then, take them out, flip all of your tilapia fillets over. Spray the second side with non-stick cooking spray, and put them back in the oven for another 7-10 minutes.

The end result is spectacular, and so easy!

I served it with homemade spinach and cheese swirls [recipe to come soon!], mashed potatoes, corn and peas. Other suggestions: my baked fries, biscuits [this or this one for example], or of course rice if you would like.