I sooooo don’t claim to be the creative half in our family. Aaron can completely make up an amazing recipe on the fly – he actually wants to do a mini-Iron Chef in our kitchen (challengers welcome) and I think he would be awesome! But every now and then, I somehow manage to concoct something that I didn’t completely copy from Food Network. And this is the first one I remember doing.
I totally dig seafood. Shoot, I grew up on an island! I remember going to a seafood market in Hong Kong where everything was fresh. And I mean fresh. Like the market is right on the harbor over the water where everything that has been captured that day is in big styrofoam tubs, ready for the taking. Not the prettiest thing in sight, but I remember picking out our dinner and heading over to a local restaurant where they cooked our dinner for us. It doesn’t get much fresher than that.
Since Aaron is gone every Wednesday night for youth, I usually whip up something that he normally wouldn’t eat (and it’s also a great time to test out some new recipes). And this week, I pulled this one out of the vault – I haven’t made this in a year or so. And it is one of my favorites.
1 tilapia fillet
Tomatoes (I like roma or cherry)
Parsley (dried or fresh)
Long pasta (I like thin spaghetti, but linguine is usually the pasta of choice for seafood)
Ground cumin & ground paprika
Salt & pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
The longest part of this recipe is waiting for the pasta to cook! So get the water boiling in a pot. Dice the tomatoes until you have about 1/3 of a cup. Put them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt & parsley. Let that sit until you’re ready to plate the meal.
As soon as the water comes to a boil, salt it and put your pasta in (as much as you think you’d need). Take your tilapia and pat it dry with a paper towel. Season both sides with the cumin, paprika, salt & pepper. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium with some olive oil, and drop your fish in. Cook on both sides (I can’t remember how long it takes, but it doesn’t take long). Your fish is ready when you take a fork, and the thickest part of the fish flakes easily.
Place your cooked pasta on a plate, put your fish on top (it might fall apart, but it doesn’t matter), and then pour your relish on top. You can also garnish it with a little extra parsley, and end with an extra drizzle of olive oil. And here is the final result:
I chomped this down like I hadn’t eaten in days. Warning: don’t cook this if you don’t like the smell of spices and/or seafood – your whole house will smell like it. 
Oh, and did you know that Fiji Water is one of the few water companies that list its pH? Yeah, check the back! Water should have a pH of 7.5 or higher for it to be good quality. Not saying that Ozarka isn’t … but who knows.
