Fresh Lemon & Rosemary Tilapia (Meat-Free for Lenten Fridays)

This recipe started off as an experiment in making lemon pepper tilapia after discovering that *gasp* I had no lemon pepper seasoning mix in the house.  So I started playing around and came up with something even better!

Aside from being meat-free and super simple, there's no salt at all in this recipe, so it's even healthier for you.


Fresh Lemon & Rosemary Tilapia
Ingredients

• 3-4 tilapia fillets, about 4-6 ounces each
• juice and zest of one lemon
• fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Method

Coat a baking sheet with olive oil (I like to line my baking sheet with foil when I do this for easier cleanup).  Arrange tilapia fillets so that they are close but not overlapping too much.

Using a zester or a fine cheese grater, zest the lemon and sprinkle evenly over the fillets.

Slice the lemon in half and remove the seeds.  Then using a citrus reamer, juice the lemon directly over the fillets.  Don't worry if you don't get all the seeds out, they are easy to remove from the baking sheet.

Sprinkle each fillet with freshly cracked black pepper.

Measure about a tablespoon of dried rosemary into the palm of one hand, "crush" it with your fingers, and sprinkle over the fish.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about thirty minutes.  Remove the foil and bake another 5-10 minutes, checking to make sure the topping does not burn.  The fish should be opaque and flake easily with a fork when it is done.

Serve with a vegetable of your choice - steamed broccoli goes well with tilapia.