I got told this morning by one of my fellow 6am CrossFitters this morning that tonight’s blog post better be good. I can assure you that if you don’t burn your fish, then it will be. Only thing is, this is one of those recipes that I don’t exactly recall the proportions of the ingredients that I added. All I know is WHAT I added. You’re going to have to get creative.

An imagination is a fun thing to have in the kitchen. I wish I had more of it. I’m totally good for making Christmas trees out of bubble wrap, ear plugs, coffee stirrers and post-it notes, but I’m a real idiot when it comes to assessing the options on the spice rack.

See? Wasn’t joking about the Christmas tree. There are 6 of them located all through my department. This is what happens when racing season ends, and I’m too afraid to pop the ton of bubble wrap sitting in my cube out of fear I’ll upset my cubicle neighbors.

Wait a minute, isn’t this blog post supposed to be about fish, and not packing materials? Yes. Yes it is. Pan-fried coconut-flour encrusted tilapia with a cucumber salsa, you’re up.

Ingredients
FOR THE FISH:
– However many tilapia filets you feel as though will feed you and the crowd you’re cooking for. It doesn’t matter if you go fresh or frozen. If frozen, just make sure you thaw it out in lukewarm (NOT HOT) water first. Hot water will cook the fish in advance. The frozen filets I got from Trader Joe’s worked pretty well.
– Coconut flour
– An Egg, whisked
– Paprika
– Garlic Powder
– Parsley Flakes
– Coconut Oil (for frying)

FOR THE SALSA:
– Cucumber
– Mango
– A Fresh Jalapeño Pepper
– Fresh Cilantro
– Lime Juice
– White Onion

Cooking Instructions (ok… so more like, guidelines)
FOR THE FISH:
Melt a tablespoon or two of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, get your first two stations lined up.
Station #1 – Pour your whisked egg into a shallow dish that generally accommodates the size of filet you’re cooking with.
Station #2 – Coconut flour and the spices of your choice are mixed together and placed into another shallow dish (a normal dinner plate will do just fine).

Time for the easy instructions – When you’re sure the skillet and oil are like Little Caesar and are hot & ready for ya, it’s time to rock & roll. Quickly pat down the tilapia filets with a paper towel (no squeezing!), just enough so the egg wash will stick.

Coat fish in egg.
Coat fish coated in egg in coconut flour spice mix.
Plunk it in the skillet. Scratch that. Finesse it into the skillet. Hot oil splashes are no fun.
Flip it over after 3 minutes or so. Cooking time obviously varies depending on your filet’s thickness.
Cook for a few more minutes.
Repeat for as many filets as you’ve got.

FOR THE SALSA:
Aaaaaaand here it is folks, the part of the recipe that’s so easy you’ll fall out of your chair.
Cut up the salsa ingredients into chunks.
Put ’em in a food processor.
Process your food.
WHOA. Salsa. That was easy.
Put it on the fish.

It’s delicious.