Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Lemon-Pepper Tilapia with Grape Tomato Salsa (Frugal Food Thursday)

lemon pepper tilapia
Welcome to Frugal Food Thursday!  If you have a great frugal recipe, please link up below! 

A big change happened to my family - and to my cooking - a few weeks ago.

My husband was diagnosed with high blood pressure.  He was told to limit his sodium intake to 2300 mg per day, and to lose some weight.

So he's been eating salads at restaurants instead of fast food.  He's cut out salty snacks.  And I've cut down the amount of salt and prepared products I use in my cooking.

We've also been experimenting with spice mixes to replace salt.  My 7-Spice Seasoning is just as good with a lot less salt in it.  And we were given three jars of Mrs. Dash seasonings by a relative.

I used the lemon-pepper spice mix to bread tilapia fillets - it gave a great taste to the fish!  I also baked them rather than pan-frying them, so as not to add any extra fat. 

Jarred cocktail sauce has a lot of salt, so to go with the fish, I wanted to make a flavorful and healthy sauce.  I looked through my refrigerator and found a container of grape tomatoes I had bought on sale.  I decided to make a grape tomato salsa with them.

I used this idea about roasting grape tomatoes and roasted half of the tomatoes.  I combined them with the other half, added onions and spices, and voila! yummy fresh salsa that complemented the fish very well.

LEMON-PEPPER TILAPIA

non-stick spray
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper seasoning blend
4 tilapia fillets

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish with non-stick spray.  In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and Mrs. Dash.   Place in a row the flour on a plate, the beaten egg in a bowl, and the bread crumb/Mrs. Dash combination on a plate.  Dip each tilapia fillet first in the flour, then the beaten egg, and then the bread crumbs.  Place in the baking dish.  Once all of the tilapia fillets are breaded, bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

GRAPE TOMATO SALSA

non-stick spray
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp cilantro
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Cut half of the tomatoes lengthwise in half.  Place sliced tomatoes cut side up on the baking tray.  Roast for 40-45 minutes at 300 degrees until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Watch carefully to make sure that the tomatoes don't burn.

Remove tomatoes from baking sheet and allow to cool.  Slice remaining raw tomatoes in quarters.  In a small bowl, combine roasted and raw tomatoes, onion, and garlic.  Mix well.  Add cilantro, pepper, and vinegar, then mix all ingredients well.  Add salt and more pepper to taste. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour to allow flavors to meld.

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9 comments:

Miz Helen January 21, 2012 at 7:23 PM  

I just love your Lemon Pepper Tilapia with Grape Tomato Salsa this is a delicious recipe! Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen

Teri January 24, 2012 at 1:21 AM  

I am also on a low sodium diet. I use a seasoning from Trader Joes called 21 Seasoning Salute. It has a wonderful flavor, and no salt! I use it almost everyday on chicken. I'm sure your husband and you would love it! Your Tilapia and Grape Tomato Salsa sound heavenly! I'd love it if you would stop by my Super Bowl Eats and Treats Party and link up a recipe.
Thanks!

Kristin January 24, 2012 at 8:34 AM  

I'm still trying to get my family to eat fish, but I know they will love the salsa. Thanks for sharing!

Erika @ One Recipe at a Time January 24, 2012 at 1:04 PM  

We are watching our sodium too. Mainly because my husband's family has some serious heart history and I want to keep my hubby healthy! And well we all could do with a little less processed food and sodium right??? We aren't perfect by any means, but we are getting there. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe and I am adding it to our list to make :)

Tara January 26, 2012 at 11:40 AM  

I love tilapia and I don't cook it that often. I'm going to have to start. Thanks for sharing!!

Alea Milham January 29, 2012 at 7:27 PM  

I love how fast fish recipes come together. This looks quite delicious. Thanks for sharing it with the HnS Hop.

Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy January 31, 2012 at 9:01 AM  

What a great idea to use the grape tomato salsa instead of cocktail sauce! Thanks for sharing at Healthy 2Day Wednesday.

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