Girls Who Grub: Recipe: Costa Rican-Style Tilapia

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite recipes! I found it on the Food Network website when searching for tilapia recipes. While it does have a pretty long list of ingredients, most of them are pretty basic things I usually have on hand. However - it does call for a lot of "fresh" ingredients, which I normally don't have on hand. I use fresh cilantro and lime juice, but store-bought orange juice and canned pineapple. I think it's fine without using fresh.

Ingredients (serves 4 - I cut in half)
1 cup long grain white rice (I used whole grain)
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 lime, juiced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finley chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper
4 tilapia filets
2 cups jarred or homemade tomato salsa
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinse
2 cups diced fresh pineapple
2 limes, thinly sliced

Start out by cooking your rice in the chicken broth -- I forgot to read this step and used water, which was fine but it probably would have been more flavorful with the chicken broth.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Next, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, oil, 2 tbsp of the cilantro, the garlic, sugar and S&P. I just got a new garlic press, and used it for the first time on this recipe. It was amazing!! I can't believe I've never had one before! If you don't already have one, I highly recommend purchasing one to mince fresh garlic in seconds! :) Once those ingredients are mixed together, add the tilapia to the marinade and refrigerate for 20 minutes - turning occasionally.

Stir together the cooked rice, salsa, beans, pineapple and remaining 2 tbsp of cilantro in a baking dish.

Remove the tilapia from the marinade, reserve the marinade, and lay the fish over the rice mixture. Pour the reserved marinade over top of the fish, and shingle the lime slices over the fish.