The Average Cook

I am a big fan of Chicken Piccata; the light and refreshing lemon butter sauce with the contrasting tangy capers always played well with chicken. I honestly never thought to make piccata sauce with anything but chicken. Yes, I know,  I am so adventureous in the kitchen. I have a hard time thinking outside of the box when it comes to cooking, hence why I never enter cooking contests. My own recipes usually end up disastrous (look for a future post on stuffed chicken that will prove my point).

I found this recipe for Tilapia Piccata in the March 2007 issue of Cooking Light. Interesting. I love tilapia but only have made it a few ways- the standard broiled with lemon, butter, etc. or breaded with Italian breadcrumbs and parmesean cheese. I decided to give this a try and was so glad I did. The piccata sauce was really complimentary to the tilapia. I’ve even made it a second time since then. I served it with fresh broccoli and brown rice with diced sweet red peppers mixed in for some color.

Overall rating: 5 stars

Tilapia Piccata

From 
Substitute most any flaky white fish, or use veal or chicken cutlets.


8 ounces uncooked orzo (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/4 cup white wine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon drained capers

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; stir in tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, parsley, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Set aside and keep warm.Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and flour in a large shallow dish. Dredge fish in flour mixture. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove fish from pan; keep warm.

Add wine, juice, and capers to pan; cook 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to pan; stir until butter melts. Serve fish with sauce and pasta.

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet, 3/4 cup pasta mixture, and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

CALORIES 461 (24% from fat); FAT 12.5g (sat 6.4g,mono 3.1g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 41.7g; CHOLESTEROL 108mg; CALCIUM 30mg; SODIUM 512mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 45.3g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2007