Blue Cheese and Balsamic Tilapia

You know how sometimes you put something together purely to see if it'll work? I do that a lot. In fact, there are an incredible number of things I've thought were going to become a new recipe that instead were relegated to the trash heap, never to be made again.

This, however... This one was a keeper! Even though I thought I had feta and it turned out to be blue cheese (and smoke flavoured blue cheese at that), I went ahead with my plan. And it was amazing!

You'll notice there is rice in this picture. I made rice, thinking there would be sauce after the fish got done baking. I was wrong. So... don't make rice. Or, you know, make some to use later for something else, or by all means if you enjoy eating rice use it for a side dish. But don't expect to find anything other than this picture that includes rice, because it won't. I'm saving mine to make a rice pudding recipe I've been dying to try later on.

Moving on. Simple enough ingredients, no? Tilapia, Vidalia onion, blue cheese (as I mentioned, mine was smoke flavour), balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, and my trusty go-to Olde Thompson garlic-pepper grinder. If you happen to be making this when it's not Vidalia onion season, then any decent sweet onion (Bermuda, certainly) will do.

I used nothing like a whole Vidalia because they're huge. This was two slices about 1/2-inch thick, quartered and then separated. I sauteed them in oil for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they were just starting to get soft.

Then I added the balsamic vinegar and a bunch of twists of the garlic-pepper grinder, turned the heat down a notch, and let the vinegar reduce, stirring fairly often. It took something like 5 more minutes, and I ended up with what you'll see in the next picture.

The onions were almost caramelized, and each piece was definitely infused with the balsamic vinegar. Be careful you don't burn them, as once the vinegar is reduced it tends to stick (which of course you can get around by using a nonstick pan). At this point I wanted to just sit down and eat the onions with a spoon, but I made myself be good.

After pressing as much excess water as I could out of the fish fillets, I stuck them in my 9x13-inch glass baking dish and rubbed both sides with more oil. I sprinkled them with a few more twists from the garlic-pepper grinder, then spooned the onions and balsamic over top. Then I scattered the blue cheese crumbles over that. From there, into the oven it went, at 350F for about 15 minutes.

The cheese was just barely browned, the fish was moist, tender, and flaked easily with a fork, and the onions continued to get even tastier with roasting. Probably if I'd had regular blue cheese rather than the smoke flavour I'd have used it instead (and will from here on out), but it certainly wasn't bad as I made it.

Keeping it simple, I served the fish with steamed broccoli and cauliflower (simply dressed with butter and more garlic-pepper), and some canned sliced beets drizzled with more balsamic vinegar.

Blue Cheese and Balsamic Tilapia

Serves 4

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup Vidalia onion (sliced, quartered, and separated)

1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning

1 pound tilapia fillets (thawed and with excess water pressed out)

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning

5 ounces blue cheese (I used smoke flavour)

Preheat oven to 350F; coat a 9x13-inch glass pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet; add Vidalia onion and saute, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning and continue sauteeing, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced and onions are tender, about 5 minutes more.

Rub fish on both sides with 2 teaspoons oil, then lay in prepared pan and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning. Spoon onions and vinegar syrup over fish, then scatter blue cheese crumbles over top.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and cheese is just beginning to brown. Serve immediately.

Serving Size: 209g

Calories: 280

Calories from Fat: 154

Total Fat: 17.1g

Saturated Fat: 7.9g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 82mg

Sodium: 554mg

Total Carbohydrates: 3.5g

Dietary Fiber: 0.6g

Sugars: 1.4g

Protein: 29.0g