Friday, July 23, 2010

chili lime tilapia with avocado, corn & pepper salad

last night i made this simple dish for the roommates - it was my twist on a rachael ray recipe where she deep fried fish fillets. i decided to make it a little healthier by searing it in the pan and adding a fresh corn avocado salsa on top. i know the ingredient list looks long - but you probably already have a lot of the things in your pantry.

ingredients for fish:
4 tilapia fish fillets
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon cumin
Zest of two limes
s&p
evoo

ingredients for corn avocado salsa:
3 ears of fresh corn
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons diced fresh cilantro
1/2 jalapeno, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
zest of one lime
juice of two limes
evoo
s&p

directions for fish:
in a small bowl, mix together flour, spices, lime zest and s&p. drizzle each fillet with evoo and dredge in flour mixture. add evoo to skillet (enough to coat entire bottom of pan) and cook fillet on each side about 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillet.  serve immediately with salsa.

directions for corn avocado salsa: 
preheat outdoor grill to medium heat. in a small bowl mix together 1/4 cup evoo, chili powder, cumin and s&p. coat evoo mixture over corn with brush and then wrap in tin foil. place corn on grill and cook for about 10 minutes, flipping every so often. meanwhile, mix together another 1/4 cup evoo with cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, zest of limes and s&p. slowly whisk in lime juice, making a vinaigrette.  if it tastes too much like lime, add 1 tablespoon of evoo at a time until it's a good balance of juice and oil. when corn has finished cooking, cut kernels off cob and mix together with avocado and bell pepper. toss with lime vinaigrette and season with more s&p if needed.

2 comments:

  1. Kel - I used this recipe as inspiration for our dinner tonight. Instead of pan-searing fish, though (cuz I had fish last night) I figured since the grill was on, I'd make some burgers. Turkey burgers. I just used all the ingredients for the fish (minus the flour of course) and instead of using onion powder, I actually minced a couple tablespoons worth of red onion. AND...I added a splash of Corona to keep it moist. I grilled them up with the corn and ate the whole thing as a sandwich. (Corn salsa on top). It was messy, but WELLLLL worth it! Thanks for the great recipes.

    -Kara

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  2. kara - seriously love the improvisation. makes my heart giggle. only wish i could have been there to witness it all.

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