Healthy Fast Easy Recipe For Tilapia

Upon returning from a trip in Venice, a dear friend of mine, Peter, raved about an excellent dish he had eaten in one of the local restaurants. It was to his dismay that they wouldn’t share the recipe. But that didn’t stop him…no not at all. He wrote down each and every visual ingredient along with those that he only tasted. And of course, he handed me that treasured napkin with all of the secret info complete with greasy stains and some other funny looking stuff on it. “Make this,” he demanded.

Well, I had to admit that Peter’s deciphered ingredient list looked pretty tasty so I attempted to pull it off.

Now in all honesty, Peter said that my version wasn’t quite what he had experienced in Venice, but that it was still tasty enough to include in his vast recipe collection. Oh…and he said, ”Good try.” Now wasn’t that just special?

GOOD TRY TILAPIA (serves 6)

Your Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tbsp butter, divided
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 (8 oz) Tilapia fillets (Peter’s recipe was with Skate Wing but Tilapia is easier to find) wash and pat dry with paper towels
1 tsp crushed red pepper
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 bunches scallions, washed and divided (thinly slice all 3 bunches diagonally but set aside 1 sliced bunch for garnish )
about 24 ounces grape tomatoes, washed and halved (they sometimes come in a netted bag that’s 12 oz)
1-1/2 cups of fresh seeded Kalamata olives, sliced into thin rings (these are in the deli section)

SEASON Tilapia fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

HEAT 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat.

ADD seasoned fish fillets to heated skillet and sauté for about 2-3 minutes per side. Fish should be opaque and flaky. Remove fish from pan and place on serving plates.

ADD the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter to heated skillet.

ADD the crushed red pepper, garlic, 2/3 of the scallions, grape tomatoes and Kalamata olives to the same skillet and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

SPOON mixture over plated fish and sprinkle remaining sliced scallions on top for garnish.

SERVE with baby asparagus and boiled parsley potatoes.

Always Enjoy!