Gently Smoked Tilapia

For reasons I won't go into (because I'm not old enough to bitch about my health problems, yet), I have recently gone on an ultra low-fat, low fiber diet.  So, I get 3 tsp. (o.O) of oil and 6 ounces of lean meat a day. Other than that, it's all about carbo loading.

The unfortunate thing is that a typical serving of pasta has 210 calories.  Considering that I need about 2000 calories per day, and that I typically eat a double serving of pasta, that's 5 large bowlfuls of pasta per day.

That's boring.

And just what the creative juices needed to get boiling again.

So, I was smoking jalapenos this weekend for chipotles, and just about the time they were ready to come off the smoker, it was getting to be dinner time. We had a bit of tilapia in the freezer, and I had just made some tomatillo salsa the day before.

A little broccoli, some tomatoes, and a cup of rice later, and we had a good meal.

Gently Smoked Tilapia

What You Need

2 tilapia filets, room temperature

1 tbsp grapeseed oil (because of its high smoke point)

1 cup jasmine rice

1/2 broccoli head

1 tbsp cilantro

1 lime

1/2 cup tomatillo salsa (room temperature)

1 tomato

What to do with it.

Place oil on and heat a cast-iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet) over medium-high heat until the oil pools in the center. Place your filets on the skillet and immediately remove from heat. Cover each filet with 1/4 cup salsa, then transfer to a smoker at about 150-175 degrees (I placed my skillet right where the firebox joins the smoker to maximize the heat).  Start your rice, squirt about half a lime on your broccoli and add the cilantro to it. Cook this about 5 minutes prior to your rice being done.

After about 20 minutes, pull up your rice, add the other 1/2 lime juice to that & fluff. Remove the tilapia from the grill, plate it all with 2-3 slices of tomato.

We served this with Liberty School chardonnay.