Monday's Timely Tilapia and Eggplant Orzo

I admit it, I was among those who scoffed at tilapia when it was such a craze across the country.  A freshwater fish—hmph!  Tasteless white fish, must be seasoned to the hilt to be attractive—hah!  Well….now I buy it in bags of frozen fillets at the grocery store, Sea Best brand.  It’s true, I’m still not a fan of tilapia seasoned lightly even pan-fried in olive oil, it’s too bland for me, but this dinner is a great solution to that.  I make tilapia about once a week, give or take, and this is a good stand-by recipe that is quick, easy, and requires such minimal effort from me…how can I resist?  Oh, yea…it tastes good too.

For tilapia for two…

Ingredients:

2 fillets tilapia, not frozen

1 T chopped garlic, sautéed until soft in olive oil

18 caper berries, ~ 9 each

Shredded parmesan cheese (about 1 ½ T of the thick shredded, or 1 ½ t of the fine grated)

 3 t olive oil, for drizzling

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

On a small baking sheet, drizzle a bit of olive oil

Place the fillets on top

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil (about 1/2 teaspoon) onto each fillet

Distribute the chopped garlic and capers

Season with pepper

Sprinkle with shredded parmesan

Bake for 15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily at its thickest part

Just before baking

So easy, and yet so flavorful!  It pairs well with a number of sides too.

On the side, Eggplant Orzo (for 2)

Ingredients:

3/4 C dry orzo

1 C eggplant, chopped and sweated

3 T onion, chopped

2 T garlic, chopped

2 T mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 T olive oil, divided for sautéing

1/2 T margarine

2 t dried basil

1 t garlic powder

1/4 t black pepper

To Make:

Bring water to a boil in medium pot, add orzo and cook as directed on box, Barilla brand was 9 minutes cooking time.

While this boils, sauté eggplant in half of olive oil until tender (depends on size chopped) but not saturated and mushy, set aside.

Saute onion and garlic until softened.

Drain orzo and rinse any remaining starch out of pot.

Melt margarine over remaining heat

Add orzo and toss

Add basil, garlic powder and black pepper, toss to distribute evenly

Add eggplant, onion and garlic

Plate and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella

Enjoy!