almond-orange tilapia with chipotle yogurt sauce

this has to be my favorite way to eat tilapia! if you like fish and you like spicy, this is for you! 

(even if you don't like fish, you should try 

this- it'll change your life!)

this recipe is from jillian michael's 

"Master Your Metabolism" cookbook, 

so you know it's good for you and will taste amazing! 

in fact, she says this recipe has the following health benefits:

anti-cancer, heart healthy, boosts immunity, 

boosts metabolism (yeehaw!), improves digestion, 

strong bones, healthy skin 

she uses rainbow trout in her recipe, 

but tilapia is a good substitute 

because both are considered white, lean and flaky. 

 i'll share the original recipe as well as the changes i made.

let's get cooking!

almond-orange tilapia with 

chipotle yogurt sauce

serves 4

ingredients for the rainbow trout or tilapia:

olive oil spray (or a silpat)

1/3 cup (1 oz) sliced almonds

1 slice whole-wheat bread, torn into pieces

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

grated test of 1 orange

1/8 tsp cayenne

4 (4 oz) rainbow trout or tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp nonfat plain yogurt

ingredients for chipotle yogurt sauce

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped, 

plus 1/2 tsp adobo sauce (see picture above)

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

juice of 1 lemon, plus more to taste

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1/2 cup low-fat plain greek yogurt

first, preheat your oven to 400°F. you'll need a baking sheet,

 sprayed with olive oil or lined with silpats.

grab your handy food processor- you're going to 

need it for the fish and the sauce.

throw in the almonds, bread, garlic, orange zest and cayenne pepper. pulse it several times until it's roughly chopped. set the mixture in a shallow plate and set aside.

now that your food processor is empty, add the chile and adobo sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and orange juice. 

blend it together to make a smooth paste. 

transfer that to a small bowl and stir in the greek yogurt. 

add more lemon juice to taste, if desired and set aside.

salt and pepper each fillet. using the 1 tbsp of plain yogurt, coat the top of each fillet. press the yogurt-coated side of each fillet into the almond mixture and lay them, 

coated-side up, on the baking sheet.

my fillets were somewhat small, and i doubled the recipe for the coating and sauce. i actually might have tripled the sauce- so there would be enough to serve on the side.

bake until the fish is firm but not 

translucent when you slide a thin-bladed knife in 

to peek at the thickest part of the fillet (about 10 minutes).

to serve, spoon sauce onto four plates and place fillet on top. 

it smells amazing and tastes even better!

modifications:

obviously i used tilapia instead of trout. 

rainbow trout is hard to come by in these parts. maybe someday i'll find some and try it with this recipe for the real deal.

rather than brush the top of the fillet with plain yogurt, i (accidentally) coated both sides of the fillet in the chipotle sauce and then coated both sides in the almond mixture. it added a lot of heat since i used the silpats, the bottom cooked evenly. also, i used homemade whole-wheat bread 

in the almond mixture- super  healthy!

(i read that the recipe said to use yogurt to coat the fillets, but didn't realize it called for 1 tbsp of plain yogurt. after the kids and i had eaten, johnny got home and tasted it- that's when i realized i made a mistake- it was a little too hot for him. 

i thought it was a good mistake.)

if you want a more mild flavor, be careful not to let any chipotle seeds from the chiles or the adobo sauce get into the mixture, and go easy on the garlic (maybe 1 1/2 cloves instead of 3). next time i will use the plain yogurt on the fish, but still coat both sides of the fillet and serve the yogurt sauce on the side.

nutrition facts per serving 

(using rainbow trout and prepared as originally instructed):

calories: 232.1 kcal

fat: 9.8 g

protein: 25.3 g

carbohydrates: 10.9 g

sodium: 500.9 mg