Mom's Tilapia

As promised in my August newsletter, here's my mom's recipe for roasted tilapia with spinach and tomatoes. We had a few bottles of wine with this, one of which was the 2002 Albert Bichot Santenay, which is great pinot for the money. The white we had was the 2003 Tete Blanche Chenin Blanc from South Africa. I know I've expressed my deep love for this wine in the past, but indulge me once more, won't you? The texture and sweetness here play right on the edge of a crunchy sugary world without ever going over that line. The tropical fruit that seems like it's going to be sweet magically dries itself out in the same breath and all you're left with is a smile on your face.

Everyone say a hearty thanks to Sue for kindly sharing her recipe and contributing to our site! Thanks, mom.

2 bags spinach
1 ½ large cans diced tomatoes
3 tbsp. olive oil
6 good-sized tilapia filets
salt & pepper

thyme butter
3 tbs. softened butter
¼ c. chopped shallots
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

1. Wash and thoroughly dry the spinach, and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat the spinach.

2. Drain the tomatoes and arrange them on top of the spinach.

3. Thoroughly dry the tilapia filets and place them on top of the spinach and tomatoes. (If the tilapia is not thoroughly dried, the thyme butter won't stick.)

4. For the thyme butter, mix all the ingredients to combine, and spread it evenly on top of the fillets.

5. Cover with foil, and bake for 8 minutes in a 425-degree oven. Remove the foil, increase the oven to "broil", and broil the filets for 5
minutes.

6. Serve over white or brown rice.

A note from mom:

"The best thing about this recipe, I think, is that you can prepare it in the morning, refrigerate it, and you're done for the day! You can also make the rice while you're preparing the fish, cover it tightly, and reheat it in the microwave as the fish is cooking later.

You can also prepare this in individual gratin dishes (which I did once because one guest that night didn't like tomatoes)."

Can't argue with that.

©2007 Alex Meier-Tomkins/Pine Street Kitchen