tilapia times.

so sorry it has been awhile since my last post—i haven’t made anything i’m particularly excited about (except eating tacos for about 3 nights this week…yum), but tonight i decided to share what i whipped up in the kitchen.

i am the kind of person that absolutely LOVES seafood—but sometimes it’s hard to get creative, ya know? tonight i wanted some tilapia, but wasn’t quite sure how to prepare it. i was inspired by the jar of Walnut Acres Organic Zesty Basil Pasta Sauce in my cupboard i’ve been dying to use. not just wanting to toss it on some noodles & calling it a day, i decided to utilize the flavors in the sauce for a delicious seafood pasta treat.

for the fish portion of my dinner, i used one filet of tilapia, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of the pasta sauce, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano, chopped 1/4 of a red onion, and sliced 1/4 of an orange bell pepper. in a small bowl, i combined 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the pasta sauce, garlic powder, and oregano. i store it up all nice, and it tasted insanely good. in a small baking pan, i used the other tablespoon of olive oil. i placed the filet in the dish, then spread the sauce concoction all over that sexy piece of fish. i then took the onion & pepper & sprinkled it all over. it looked a little something like this.

in an oven i pre-heated at 375, i placed in my little friend. y’all, i wish i could explain how tasty this made my house smell. while this was baking, i was making some rigatoni noodles (one cup). rigatoni noodles are my absolute favorite—they are very filling & go with anything. they’re my go-to noodles when making pasta, and i always have some in my cupboard. nom.

after about 15 minutes in the oven, i took the fishy out. man, it sure did look good. but i like my fish to be a little crisp, so i took a tablespoon of butter (i know K is ecstatic about this step, given our recent debate about butter) and put it on top of the little guy. i turned the oven on to broil, and let the tilapia sit in there for another 5 minutes.

after being in a constant state of smellgasm, i took out the finished product. holy crap, y’all. i plated the fish with the rigatoni pasta & some more sauce, and paired it with a salad (always need my greens, ya know!). oh, and a cheerwine…because i am moving back to NC in 2 weeks! i gotta celebrate the south with my beverage choice, obviously!

verdict: absolutely delicious. the flavors weren’t as explosive as i thought they would be, but it was very tasty, pretty light, and easy to make. y’all try it & tell me if you made any changes, and how it worked for you!

xoxo m