Coconut Citrus Tilapia

Did you know that the hottest new trend in healthy foods is citrus? You did if you read my most recent Sunday Table post. Ever since my time in Sacramento I associate citrus with the winter months when the lemon, orange and grapefruit trees came into harvest, even in the downtown neighborhoods. Unfortunately I didn’t have any fruit trees in my tiny yard but I often received a bag of fruit from a neighbor or stranger.

If you’re watching your sodium, citrus is your friend – try adding a squeeze of lime or lemon, or a dash of lemon pepper instead of salt, to your dish. Citrus brightens up food and adds acidity, like vinegar would. Lime played that role for me recently in Mexican Shrimp Cocktail and Thai-Style Pineapple Salad.

When I first saw this recipe for citrus coconut breading on The Girly Girl Cooks blog, I knew I had to try it on fish. I made one change by leaving out the fruit juice because I didn’t have time to let crumbs dry. The coating still had a nice citrus flavor, but if you do have an hour to spare, check out her recipe for that variation. Somehow I forgot to add garlic (how unlike me!), so I omitted that from the recipe, but you could add it.

This dish took well under 30 minutes to make, Rachael Ray would be proud. Make your crumbs, get your other dredging bowls ready and go to it, that’s it. Of course you’ll need some sides. I tried out a potato no-mayo salad recipe and we had leftover smoked paprika kale. The kale recipe is here in the Shrimp & Grits post. It really deserves its own post, it’s that good.

Citrus Coconut Tilapia

You’ll need two plates, a wide bowl and a skillet.

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut – I used sweetened because that’s all the store had.
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
• Zest of orange, lime and lemon
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 fillets tilapia
• Canola oil

Mix together breadcrumbs, coconut, ginger, lime, lemon and orange zests on a plate or wide shallow bowl.

In another wide bowl, beat together the egg and milk. Add salt and pepper.

Add flour to another plate. Dredge fish in the flour. Shake off any excess. Dip each piece into the egg mixture. Coat with the coconut mixture.

Saute fish in oil on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side, or until they’re cooked through. Watch the second side of the fillets, mine got a bit too dark, maybe the sugar in the sweetened coconut released and burned in the oil. Or perhaps my heat was too high — I quickly reduced it to medium. I’m not really sure. If you know how to prevent that, let me know in the comments.

Original recipe: Citrus Coconut Breading, The Girly Girl Cooks