Friday, May 6, 2011

Tilapia with mango salsa and szecuan green beans

And again, another favorite that I had first at Michelle's house...do you see why I like eating over there?  This is very healthy and light, seems like a gourmet meal but doesn't take long at all, and makes you feel like you sure know what you're doing in the kitchen! Guys, if you're cooking for a date...give this a shot instead of the standard pasta most guys do...and girls, this is great to impress your friends with (I was obviously impressed, lol)! 

Tilapia with mango salsa on a bed of cajun rice:

2-6 tilapia filets depending on size
Zatarains red beans and rice (I use Uncle Ben's 90 second microwavable
bags, the cajun one)

salsa:
1 jalopeno diced
1/2 white onion diced
2 mangoes diced (they're tough to core so I need two to get the amount off
there that I want)
1 lime's juice squeazed in
fresh cilantro if you want (I use it if I have it but skip it if I dont)

Dicing mangos is a little different than normal fruit, they have a huge hard core in the center that is tough to get around.  I make this enough that I bought myself a mango splitter which looks funny but works amazingly! This thing cores the mango and leaves you with all the good parts of the fruit....



After you have the fruit in workable pieces, you want to score (cut down to the skin) it in vertical and horizantal fashion as pictured here:



Then, cut the fruit off the skin with your knife to leave the diced chunks like so:



Mix the salsa up with the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate so it's cold (you can do this ahead of time so it's a simple weeknight meal, but know that the salsa gets hotter the longer it sits and melds together). 



Bake the tilapia at 400 degrees in a greased baking dish, you can tell when its done when its fully white and flakes with a fork. 



Lay the tilapia on a bed of the cajun rice (Uncle Ben to the rescue AGAIN!)



Throw some mango salsa on top, and serve...super easy :)  Before I give you the final pretty picture though, I had better tell you about the szecuan green beans.  These are requested as one of the favorite veggies in the house, and it seems we are above eating canned green beans now....which is awesome since the fresh ones are over twice the cost!  But, these are a fave of mine too so I don't mind much.  I've shown you most of these ingrediants before (for the szecuan mushrooms on steak) and warned you that you would need to keep them on hand for a number of my recipes:



The only thing pictured that didn't go on the mushrooms was the baggie of sesame seeds.  I don't use amounts ever for any of these ingredients, some days we want it spicier so I add more szecuan sauce, others not so spicy so we back off on that.  You can come up with your own ratio...

Anyway, cut the ends off the fresh green beans and throw them in the skillet on medium heat adding these ingredients right away. These cook in less than 10 minutes so they're a simple side if you have everything at hand.  There you have it, and here is the final plate....tilapia filets are small so I usually use 2 per person but I didnt finish all of mine this time.  How freaking pretty is that??  And for only about 550 calories total by my calculations...


By the way, I didn't use to think that I was a fruit salsa kinda girl....but the onions and jalops cut the sweetness of the mango perfectly.  The rice compliments it all as well and I would say this is one of my top 5 favorite dishes...and that's saying a lot! Enjoy :)

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2 comments:

  1. The mango salsa looks amazing! I'm allergic to fish, so I'd have to use it on chicken....but yum!

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  2. It is very good, its my favorite recipe to WOW guests as it seems like a big deal but is so simple to make! I bet it would be great on chicken...

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