Tilapia With Cucumber Relish

Dear Andrew, Addison, Family and Friends;

Tilapia is one of the mildest tasting fish. It is a pretty fish too, check out the picture.  Therefore it is easier to get kids to eat this fish than salmon. Tilapia can be  prepared in so many ways, earlier I gave you my fish taco recipe with tilapia and today I want to share with you Tilapia with Cucumber Relish. Its quick and easy to make and I saw tilapia on sale at the market for $5.99 a pound. Usually it runs around  $7.99-8.99.  You can buy several pieces and freeze the fish for later use. Or buy tilapia from the frozen food section. Remember if you freeze fish, and you let it thaw, it will have a slight fishy smell to it, but if you let it soak in milk or squeeze lemon over the fillet it will reduce the smell of fish.

Lesson from Home: Checking to see if the fish has been cooked enough.

Typically a good guideline is 8 minutes per inch of fish. But tilapia is less than one inch so you have to check by using a knife. Using the tip of   a knife, poke at the thickest part of the fish, you want to look at the interior part of the fish. Raw fish has a translucent appearance, (think of the color of sushi)  that turns opaque during the cooking process. You should see that it is slightly firm and opaque throughout. Remember fish like other meats will continue to cook 1-2 minutes after you take them from the heat.

I decided on sharing this recipe with you because I saw on the Dr. Oz show, he was talking about the benefits of cucumbers and vinegar and it reminded me of this recipe.

Ingredients

1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained and coarsely chopped

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 green onion, minced

1 Tablespoon minced fresh dill

1 1/4 pound tilapia

Directions:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Cover relish, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Place fish on a lightly greased rack; place rack in broiler pan. Brush 1 Tablespoon liquid from relish over fish. Broil 3 minutes from heat 3.5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer fish to plates and spoon relish over fish. This makes about 4 servings.

p.s. This relish is good on chicken too!

Love From Home,

Kim Wechsler