Pesto Tilapia

Fish on the grill, almost no prep, cooks in about 10 minutes, healthy and keeps the house cool! What more could you want? And pesto makes everything taste better. I have a prolific basil bush on my patio so I eat the stuff on everything this time of year!

What you need: (Serves 2)

Fish
2 4-oz filets of tilapia or other white fish
olive oil
lemon juice
salt & pepper

3 T. store-bought pesto, or make your own. Making your own is so delicious, but you MUST have a food processor! This will make plenty extra.

Pesto
2 cups of basil leaves, washed and packed as tightly into a measuring cup as you can fit them
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C good olive oil
1/2 C pine nuts (or substitute walnuts)
A splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

What to do (if you're making pesto)

• Put all ingredients into a food processor, one at a time starting with the basil, and blend until the nuts are ground up. 
• Taste and add salt, just a little at a time, until it tastes right. You can also add more oil, cheese, or nuts until you like the proportions and consistency.

I keep some in a small jar in the fridge, and put the rest in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Then I have it all through the winter!

What to do, now that you made/bought pesto:

• Lightly brush fish filets with oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Allow to marinate for up to 30 minutes. 
• Preheat grill to medium-high.
• Grill, on a piece of lightly oiled aluminum foil, for about 4 minutes.
• Flip, spread with pesto, and grill for about another 4 minutes, until fish flakes easily
• That's it! Serve with fresh vegetables or a green salad. 

A note on the foil: I tried one filet on the (oiled) grill to see how it was. I liked how it got a little crispy but it started to stick to the grill after it was flipped, so I eventually moved it onto the foil. Do as you wish; I was worried I'd lose too much of the fish if I left it directly on the grill!

Nutrition Info:

1 fish filet and 1.5 T. pesto = 5 WW points+  (I only ended up using 1 T of pesto but am leaving this at 5 due to the olive oil brushed on the fish. But if 4 makes you feel better, go with that!

Homemade Pico de Gallo Salsa

This is healthy, fresh, and delicious! It's also a great way to use up a surplus of tomatoes if you garden. I'll write down how much of each ingredient I used as a rough guideline, but it is a fun recipe to adapt to your own tastes! All the chopping takes a bit of time but it is so good! This makes a pretty big bowl but it's easy to adjust to any proportion.


What you'll need:

ripe tomatoes (4)
bell pepper (1/2)
jalepeno pepper (1)
red onion (1/4)
garlic cloves (3)
cilantro (about 1/4 of a bunch)
lime juice (3 T. maybe?) I only had 1 hard lime so had to add some from a bottle.
salt to taste

What to do:
Chop all vegetables. Squeeze extra juice and seeds out of tomatoes (into trash) so it doesn't get too watery. Take out seeds and ribs from jalepeno. Pull off bigger stems of cilantro, but don't stress about it too much. Put all ingredients into a bowl and taste. (The tasting is really important!) Then add whatever you think it needs more of! That's it!

Nutrition info:
0 WW points! (until you use chips to scoop it up...)