Oven Baked Tilapia with Roasted Tomatoes and Spices

Cooking healthy, simply, and deliciously are not mutually exclusive concepts. This tilapia dish accomplishes all three in under 200 calories per serving, with actual prep time under 5 minutes, and with mostly kitchen staples – all you’ll need is a fresh tomato!

** Tip: While I pick up that fresh tomato, I pick up tons of veggies to chop and individually package as grab-and-goes for weekday lunches while my tilapia defrosts (if it’s frozen) and bakes. While my dinner cooks, I get super healthy lunches and snacks set all week!

The tomato adds the perfect amount of acidity to the fish, and roasting them adds a hint of sweetness. After you add in some chopped garlic and some dried herbs for layers of flavor, you have yourself a delicious, easy, super healthy weeknight meal.

There’s nothing better than a light dish that leaves you filling full and satisfied.

What you’ll need (makes 2 servings):
2 tilapia filets (if frozen, defrost in water like I do with chicken)
1 tomato (I prefer vine-ripe tomatoes for this)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano

What you need to do:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line an 8×8 casserole dish with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray – you can use any dish size you have, you just don’t need a big one. Place your tilapia in the dish.

Cut your tomato in half and slice thinly. Layer the tomatoes over your tilapia.

Drizzle the lemon juice over your tilapia and tomatoes. Sprinkle the entire dish with the garlic, basil, and oregano.

Bake for 35 minutes.

You can barely see the tilapia under all those beautiful roasted tomatoes! But trust me, you’ll definitely get tons of flaky forkfuls when you dig in.

Enjoy! Serve with a heaping portion of steamable veggies. Or, throw in Brussels Sprouts with a Kick in the oven with the tilapia – they cook at the same temperature for the same amount of time!

 

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

I admit, I’m a tiny bit of a beer snob, so I love it whenever I get a chance to use beer in my cooking – not to mention, it’s a great excuse to enjoy a beer on the side while I cook! Guinness already has chocolate and coffee notes, so it pairs perfectly in a chocolate cupcake. These are rich, deep, decadent goodies that are great for beer-snobs and chocolate-snobs alike.

What’s also awesome, these are easy enough to make to satisfy a craving whenever it hits. Even though baked goods are probably my favorite thing in the world to eat, I’m notoriously impatient when it comes to the actually-doing-it-and-baking part. These don’t require any complicated baking technique, and I make it even easier by buying my frosting in a jar (gasp!) and just jazzing it up to fit the occasion.

That hint of Guinness really gives these cupcakes a fun twist!

What you’ll need:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch fine salt
1 bottle room-temperature Guinness (any stout will do, though)
1 stick butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1-8 ounce tub of sour cream
1-16 ounce jar of cream cheese frosting

What you’ll need to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the Guinness, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then, mix in the sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth (I used my electric hand mixer, but if you don’t have one handy then use a whisk).

The carbonation in the beer makes these cupcakes particularly light and fluffy.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, adding about 1/3 of the mixture at a time.

Line your cupcake pan, and then fill the cupcake wrappers until they’re about 3/4 full.

I generally use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to fill my cupcake pans to keep the amounts even, but you can use more or less if needed.

Bake for 12 minutes until risen and domed in the middle. I always use the toothpick test to make sure they’re done. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cupcakes are good to go. If the toothpick comes out wet, stick your cupcakes back in for a couple minutes and then check again with another toothpick.

Dump the cooked cupcakes out of the pans after only a few minutes. Otherwise, they'll keep cooking in the hot pans.

Once your cupcakes are done, turn out and let them cool completely before frosting.

Speaking of frosting… I know I went the easy way out with frosting this time, but that’s okay! To jazz it up, I add food coloring to make it special. With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I make it a bright green. Then go nuts with sprinkles, toppings (chocolate chips mixed in with the frosting would also be super tasty), or whatever sounds good to you!

Festive for St. Patrick's Day!