Fish for People Who Don't Like Fish

Much to my husband's dismay, I am not the biggest fan of fish. It's not that I hate it, but I would just prefer to eat something else...so, I do. This means Tom typically only eats fish at a restaurant. When we were in Seattle, I tried more seafood, thinking I would like it more because it was so fresh. Eh. It was better than I'm used to, but still, try as I might, I am not crazy about it. However, since my husband ate cabbage from the dolmades last night, I figured it only fair that I eat fish tonight.

I went with tilapia because it is a mild, non-fishy fish. But the thing about tilapia is that I actually find it a little too mild, so, I pretty much just use it as a vehicle for adding flavor. I have recently seen a couple recipes for fish roasted alongside tomatoes, like one Cara made and one from Food Network. I love roasted tomatoes so I decided to go that route with the fish. In addition to the roasted tomatoes, I decided to make a lemon pesto, instead of just using basil. I had some leftover pesto in the fridge and the way I see it, if something is topped with pesto, it's got to be good right?

Right. This was some tasty, tasty fish. Even I thought so! The great taste (not to mention the juices) from the oven roasted tomatoes, with the nice garlicky-lemon taste of the pesto made the fish taste delicious. If you are one of those people who, like me, is trying to ease your way into fish, this is your recipe.

Pesto and roasted tomato tilapia

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Tilapia with Lemon Pesto and Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 2

1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, peeled/smashed
2 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. pesto
1 lemon
2 tilapia filets, about 6 oz.
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the tomatoes and the garlic with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, juice the lemon and reserve both the juice and the juiced lemon. To the juice, add the pesto and stir to combine. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper and then spread the pesto mixture on top of the fish.

Take the pan of roasted garlic and tomatoes out of the oven and nestle the cut lemon into the pan. Place the tilapia on top of the lemon and tomatoes and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is flaky and no longer opaque. Spoon the tomatoes over the fish.

Nutritional Information per Serving: Calories: 282 / Fat: 13.5g / Carbs: 10.6g / Protein: 33.8g