Feeding Your Family: Breaded Tilapia Fillets

I Love Fish!

A dreadlocked 7-year-old in my cooking class told me about this dish. "Make tilapia!" he kept urging me, with a feverish glint in his eye. Finally, I asked his mother for the recipe. I tweaked it a bit to make it my own, and now have the same feverish look in my eye. You can bake or fry this simple dish, and to make it especially seasonal, cut it into heart shapes.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. tilapia fillets (or other white-fleshed fish)


• enough brown rice crackers (such as Brown Rice Snaps™) or whole wheat breadcrumbs to make 3/4 cup


• 1 egg


• salt and pepper to taste


• heart-healthy frying oil, such as canola or olive

Preparation:

1. Crush the crackers thoroughly and evenly in a mortar and pestle or with a Zip-Loc™ bag with a rolling pin. (You can buy breadcrumbs, too; look for whole wheat.) Children love this task. Put into a wide shallow bowl.

2. Crack egg into another wide shallow bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork.

3. Cut tilapia into 2- or 3-inch pieces. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter if desired.

4. Dip tilapia pieces into egg, and then coat thoroughly with the breadcrumbs, shaking off the excess.

5. Preheat oven to 450°. Coat a baking sheet with a few teaspoons of oil. Heat the baking sheet in the oven for about 5 minutes. Fill baking sheet and then bake for five minutes on each side, until fish is opaque in center. Serve with salad.