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Cilantro Lime Tilapia

General

Cilantro and I haven’t always been friends. In fact, it wasn’t until my early 20’s that I decided to give cilantro another chance and began tasting it in a new light. Whereas it once made me gag, now I buy it limes and make it into a marinade.

Earlier this week, I had a sumptuous cilantro lime shrimp salad from the Nordstrom Bistro and have been craving these flavors since then. This cilantro lime fish marinade recipe Nathalie shared with me provided the inspiration for tonight’s dinner. We would have followed the recipe more closely, but we were starving and when that happens we sometimes forget how to read. Nonetheless, it was so good and super easy to make. Here’s our version of the recipe.

You will need:
2-3 Tilapia fillets
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 limes (reserve the juice and a bit of lime zest, depending on how zesty you are feeling)
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
olive oil
salt
pepper

In a bowl, coat fillets in good olive oil. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Add the juice from the 2 limes, the lime zest, the garlic and the cilantro. Coat fish in the goodness. Pan fry on medium-high heat on both sides (tip: we cooked ours in our cast iron pan which created a perfect exterior and added about 5 more dimensions of flavor). Be careful not to overcook. The fillets will be done when they easily flake apart. Garnish with cilantro, a thin slice of lime and serve with a generous, buttery mound of mashed potatoes.

Last modified: January 10, 2019