Tilapia with mustard chive sauce

Tilapia is probably my favourite of the white fishes but a lot of (crazy) people find it bland once it's cooked. SO, on a quest to appease these strangely-pallated folk, I looked into sprucing up the ol' tilapia recipe. Giada came to the rescue with this light and fresh mustard chive sauce. The sharp mustard, sour yogurt, and sweet agave, all blend together perfectly in an obscenely simple topping. 

What  you need:

• 4 (5 to 6 oz) tilapia fillets
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1/4 cup plain, Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp honey (I used agave)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped chives
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Preheat a broiler. Spray a small baking sheet with vegetable oil and set aside.
2. Drizzle the tilapia fillets on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the fillets in a single layer on the baking sheet and broil until cooked through and the flesh flakes easily, about 5-7 minutes. Don't overcook! Dry tilapia tastes somewhat like chalk dust.
3. For the sauce: mix yogurt, agave, and mustard together in a small bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and chives, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle tilapia with sauce.  

I'm keeping this sauce in my back pocket as a secret weapon for other white fish.

On an unrelated note, it's Summerlicious in T.O - anyone check out some sweet eats?

Happy Monday!

A.C

Greek marlin

Marlin! Not just a professional baseball team it seems. We had some marlin steaks the other night and before I could figure out how to cook it, I had to figure out what "it" was. This saltwater white fish is similar to swordfish, just sliiightly tougher. It's best served grilled or fried but in an attempt to keep things a tad healthier, I found a recipe that involved baking. As a general rule of thumb, baking time is 10 minutes per inch thickness (so 5 minutes/side for a 1 inch thick piece). Don't overcook or you'll end up with a dry, tasteless, sad little fishy! I tweaked this Greek marlin recipe (found here) to make my own delicious concoction.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tomatoes, cubed
• 4 oz chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp minced garlic, divided
• 1 tbsp feta cheese
• 2 (6 oz) Marlin steaks

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 tbsp garlic in a medium pot, over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, stir in the tomatoes, basil, and lime juice. Just before the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Toss in feta cheese about a minute before serving.
3. In a small pot, melt the remaining butter, and mix in remaining garlic.
4. Arrange the marlin steaks in a baking pan, and drizzle with the butter and garlic mixture from the small pot.
5. Bake the fish for 7 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn fish, and continue baking 7 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fish to serve. 

fresh veggies 

 limes

stewing sauce

buttery garlicky tomatoey goodness

marlin steaks

serve with your favourite veggies

This fish was so flaky and tender, and the greek topping was perfect - light and flavourful, with a hint of saltiness from the feta. Next time I'd add black olives to the mix and make it a full-on greek style...Opa!

Happy Monday!

A.C