Grilled Tilapia With Pineapple Salsa

This is one of my favorite fish dishes.  It is SO flavorful and delicious, and the presentation is great too, so it's perfect for serving to company!  I don't make this one for my kids though because it's pretty spicy, but if you wanted to make this for dinner and you have little ones, you could just make theirs plain with just a little garlic salt and butter.  You could also use another whitefish of your choosing for this dish.  I don't recommend buying tilapia that is farmed in Asia, you can read more about tilapia in my post "Tilapia, is it good for you?" in the Information Station tab.

Enjoy!
Kirsten

PS: This recipe comes from The Pampered Chef 29 minutes to dinner cookbook.

GRILLED TILAPIA WITH PINEAPPLE SALSA

Pineapple Salsa
1/2 medium pineapple
1/4 small red onion
1 Serrano pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 lime

Tilapia
1 packet (1.25 oz) taco seasoning
3 tablespoons garlic oil or olive oil
4 boneless, skinless tilapia fillets (about 4 oz. each)

1)  Heat grill pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes.  As pan heats, peel pineapple half; cut lengthwise into two pieces and remove core.  Slice each pineapple piece lengthwise into three strips.  Arrange strips in a single layer over grill pan; cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until grill marks appear.  Set aside.

2)  While pineapple cooks, chop onion.  Cut Serrano pepper lengthwise in half; remove and discard seeds.  Chop Serrano pepper and cilantro.  Combine onion, Serrano pepper, cilantro and salt in a small bowl.  Zest lime to measure 1 teaspoon zest.  Juice lime to measure 1 tablespoon juice.  Add zest and juice to bowl; mix well.

3)  Whisk taco seasoning mix and oil in mixing bowl.  Add tilapia; turn to coat.  Place two tilapia fillets onto grill pan.  Cook 2 minutes or until grill marks appear.  Turn tilapia over and cook 2 minutes or until tilapia flakes easily with a fork.  Remove tilapia from pan.   Wipe out pan and repeat with remaining fillets.

4)  As tilapia cooks, chop pineapple and add to onion mixture in small mixing bowl; mix well.  To serve, top tilapia with pineapple salsa.

NOTES:

~I wouldn't recommend using canned pineapple, fresh is much better!

~I use olive oil because I don't keep garlic oil on hand.

~You could also do this on your outdoor grill if you don't have a grill pan.  I'm sure a frying pan would work too, but you won't have the nice grill marks.

~I spray my grill pan with a non-stick cooking spray before cooking the fish.