Tilapia Tacos with Pineapple Salsa

When I wrote out the title for this post, I though to myself "that sounds really summer-y". The truth is, I am a little sad about the fact that summer is long gone and fall is almost over. You see, here in the mountains, we didn't really get a summer this year. It never got above 85 degrees and it rained a LOT. So maybe I made these tacos to try and trick our palates into believing it is summer again.

Wild caught tilapia was on sale at the store, and we had a pineapple on hand that was ripe and ready to be eaten. So I put my menu planning hat on and came up with this simple week-night creation!

The salsa. So simple. So delicious.

Tilapia seasoned and ready for cooking!

I like to get the pan really hot before adding the fish, that way it gets a nice crispy texture.

My secret to getting corn tortillas soft and tender. Get a few paper towels wet - then wrap a small stack of tortillas in them and microwave for 45 - 60 seconds. Perfect every time.

Roasted asparagus along side the tacos. Fresh grated parmesan on top!

Tilapia Tacos Recipe:

Serves 4

- 3 large or 4 small tilapia filets

- 2 tsp chili powder

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- Salt/Pepper

-Toppings of your choice (lettuce, cucumber, sprouts, lime wedges, sour cream)

- 8-10 corn tortillas (fajita sized flour tortillas would work just fine too)

- Pineapple salsa (recipe below)

Tilapia Tacos Directions:

- Season the tilapia filets with salt and pepper.

- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium/high heat.

- When the oil is very hot, place the tilapia in the pan.

- As the fish cooks, break it up with a wooden spoon or spatula.

- Sprinkle chili powder over the fish while it cooks.

- The fish should only take about 5 minutes to cook.

- Season with salt and pepper to taste.

- Warm the tortillas, and build your tacos!

Pineapple Salsa Recipe:

Makes about 2 cups of salsa

- 1/2 cup finely chopped pineapple (fresh is best, but canned would be fine too!)

- 3 roma tomatoes, chopped

- 1/4 cup diced onion

- 2 tsp or 2 cloves chopped garlic

- 1-2 tsp chopped cilantro

- Salt to taste

Pineapple Salsa Directions:

- Mix all chopped ingredients in a large bowl.

- Season with salt to taste.

- Serve with chips and/or over tilapia tacos!

Panko Crusted Coconut Lime Tilapia

Don't you just love it when you try to cook something new for the first time and it turns out perfectly? That's how this dish went. I kind of threw it all together as I went along, took pictures (with hopes that it would at least look pretty), and it turned out great. I'm so excited for all of you to try this recipe in your own kitchens!

Fish can be a tricky thing to cook. I have had many failed fish recipes - there, I said it. It's very delicate, and easy to over cook. When picking out fish to bring home from the grocery store, I usually go with salmon (wild caught if it's not ridiculously expensive), or some kind of white fish. Tilapia is a favorite of ours since it's mild and very inexpensive.

I bought a bag of frozen tilapia a few months back and it's been a great go-to when we realize there are no proteins in the house and it's dinner time. The tilapia filets are individually packaged so you can take as many or as few as you please out at a time. Since they're quite thin, they don't take long to thaw. I put a few filets in a bowl of cool water for about an hour and they were ready to roll!

I used japanese panko style bread crumbs for this recipe. They were the key ingredient that made the tilapia so crispy and light.

The filets were dipped in a egg/milk bath before being dunked in the panko breading mixture.

The dry ingredients included panko, dried parsley, lime zest, and salt.

I pan fried the filets in coconut oil. Coconut oil has a very high smoking point (meaning, you can get it really really hot before it will start to burn), so it works great for getting things nice and crispy on the outside. 

2-3 minutes on each side.

Served with pearled barley + roasted heirloom tomatoes and steamed broccoli. More on pearled barley in an upcoming post...

The fish was so crispy, with tons of flavor bursting from the lime zest and coconut oil. I highly recommend adding this to your week's menu.

Panko Crusted Coconut Lime Tilapia

Serves 2, but can easily be double or tripled

- 2 large tilapia filets (or 4 small filets)

- 1 cup panko bread crumbs

- 1 tsp salt plus a pinch
- 1 pinch of pepper

- 1 tsp dried parsley

- Zest of one lime
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (I use this kind)
- Lime wedges for garnish


Directions:
- Season the filets with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Whisk together the egg and milk.
- Mix together the panko, 1 tsp salt, parsley, and lime zest.
- Dredge the filets in the egg mixture, then coat in the bread crumb mixture. Make sure each filet is evenly covered with bread crumbs.
- In a medium skillet, heat the coconut oil on medium-high heat. This is an important step, as you want the pan to be quite hot when you cook the fish. A hot pan will give you a crispy outer layer.
- Place two filets in the pan at once (being sure not to crowd them together), and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. When flipped, the filets should be golden and crispy.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.