It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a recipe! Promise I will return to normal when we move to our new address (June/July 2010). You know how it is when your moving. You find your bra in your skillet box and your skillet in the kids toys box!

Here’s a simple weeknight meal. A delicious easy tilapia dish with a roasted red pepper & olive tapenade. The tapenade can be made up to three days in advanced to make this dish a quick thow together meal.

Tilapia with Olive & Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade serves 4

Olive & Red Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade

• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 3/4 cup of calamata olives, pitted
• handful of fresh parsley, about 1/3 cup
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil, and a splash extra for roasting the pepper
• pinch of salt and pepper

Tilapia

• 4 tilapia fillets
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Place the bell pepper on a cooking sheet and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.

Place the cooking pan with the pepper in the oven underneath the broiler. Watch carefully. When the pepper becomes charred, carefully flip the pepper to another side. Continue this until the pepper is fully charred and roasted. This takes a couple of minutes per side. definitely not the time to walk away and catch up on your fave TV show or soap opera (or as my RoRo used to say, “my stories”).

After you let the pepper cool, scrape the charred skin away from the pepper gently with a knife. Next, cut the pepper in half and remove the stem and seeds. Now you have a roasted red bell pepper. But if you want to entirely skip this step and use a couple of slices from a jar of roasted red bell peppers, I won’t come hunt you down. Just don’t let me know you did so.

Add garlic to a food processor or blender and pulse until chopped. Next, add everything else including the roasted pepper and puree until blended. Your looking for a smooth but slightly chunky texture.

Now that’s done it’s time for the tilapia.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper to both sides of each fillet. Place the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the tilapia to the skillet. Be careful not to over crowd. Do two batches if needed. Saute 2 to 3 minutes per side until the fish is cooked through.

Spoon the olive and roasted red pepper tapenade over the each tilapia fillet and serve.

Sides: Sauteed Swiss Chard and Quinoa

• Swiss Chard: Swiss chard is similar to spinach and collard greens. Their big leaves have a beautiful red stalk and are perfect for a quick saute. To cook: Wash, dry and dice the chard into large bite size pieces. Next heat a tsp of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Place chard into pan and saute for 5 to ten minutes until wilted. Turn off heat and add salt to taste and a squeeze of lemon.
• Quinoa: Quinoa has a light, fluffy texture when cooked, and its mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it an alternative to white rice or couscous. To cook: Bring 2 cups of water or chicken stock to boil. Add 1 cup of quinoa. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes until light and fluffy. Add salt, butter or olive oil (optional), and a dash of smoked paprika to taste. Use the left over quinoa for the kiddos in the morning and make berries and quinoa cereal!

She keeps me entertained.