Tilapia Topped Polenta

I love Tilapia. It's so mild you can fit it to nearly every type of dish.  You can spice it up and make wonderful fish tacos with it, or bake it and serve it alongside something bright green like broccoli.  Even my 11 year old, who hates fish, will eat tilapia.  There's very little oil, unlike catfish (my favorite.)  


Polenta is the same way.  I've made it homemade before and it's yummilicious, but sometimes a pre-bought roll is just what I need to add a little flair to my table.  My sister makes these little individual tostadas from polenta.  I was going to make them one day, but of course didn't have the same ingredients so mine was something altogether different.  Here's what I ended up with:


It's very simple because it was mostly pre-made ingredients (aka, canned stuff & pre-seasoned tilapia.)  I had a roll of sun-dried tomato polenta, which I sliced up into 1/4" sliced and saute'd in a large skillet with a little drizzle of olive oil & a sprinkling of kosher salt.  Cook them until they are a lovely, golden color.

While the polenta is cooking, fire up a small pot with some olive oil, onions & garlic. Slice up 2-3 roma tomatoes and toss them in too. This will be the beginning of some super easy, super yummy beans. 

Once you get these cookin' put a large skillet on the stove and drizzle lightly with a little olive oil.  Put your tilapia in and cook on med/high heat. (Yeah, I'm still getting used to electric stoves.)  I buy these tortilla crusted tilapia when they're on sale, so that's what I used this day. Most of the time, I just use normal tilapia and cook it with a little lime & cilantro. Cook the tilapia until it's a crisp brown on both sides.

While the tilapia is browning, go ahead and add a can of beans to your small pot. I had kidney beans on hand, though I would have preferred black beans.  I also added about a 1/4 cup of frozen corn for a little more texture.

While those things were going on, I went back and checked my polenta. At this point, it was the color I was hoping for, so I plated them and set them aside. I did a quick chop of some cilantro and sprinkled them with it to give them a little extra flavor.  I have to admit, I had one just like that and it was a delightful treat!

Since I was chopping cilantro anyway, I just added a handful of it to my beans.  At this point, I also added a little kosher salt & some crushed red pepper.

That's pretty much it. I plated 3 polenta slices, topped with a serving of beans and crumbled part of the tilapia on that.  It was so yummy and it only took about 30 minutes to make, wasn't too bad on the fat/calorie scale and made a beautiful presentation. You can wow your friends and family with a little help from canned or frozen things here and there. Fresh is always my favorite, but let's face it - I live in the desert. There's no such thing as fresh fish here. (Unless my buddy Dave brings me fresh caught trout. But that's another tale.) If it comes down to using canned/frozen vs. fast food - well, you know my answer! Fast food at home is my answer. Even from a can, your food from your kitchen is better than any joint on the street.

Feed the ones you love!