Spicy Tilapia Over Brown Rice

I am in love with spicy food!  Since becoming pregnant, I have loved spicy foods.  They just don't seem to hit me like they once did.  Zoey is seven months old, and my love of spicy food has remained.  I stumbled across the base of this recipe a while back when looking for a healthy fish recipe to serve over brown rice.  I am not a fan of following recipes to the letter, so I added and subtracted about half the ingredients until I came out with this final recipe.  I generally serve this over brown rice, but it would easily be just as great over white rice, or as a main dish with veggies and mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

6 small tilapia filets:  (While I prefer fresh, our budget generally only allows for frozen filets)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more or less to taste)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons butter
2 limes

Directions:  (We have a gas oven, which generally seems to cook a bit faster than most of the ovens I have worked with before, so cooking times may vary slightly).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  I like to use glass pans generally, and I spray a tiny bit of non stick spray into the bottom. 

Add all spices together to form your rub.  I also zest one of the limes to add just a hint of citrus flavor to the rub itself. 

In a separate bowl, melt your two tablespoons of butter and juice from both limes.

Baste your tilapia fillets with the lime juice and butter mixture.  One very important thing to remember with fillets is that to achieve even cooking, the filets need to be the same thickness.  Often with frozen fillets, I have found that the edges tend to be very thin.  I overlap them in the pan so that they are much closer to the thickness of the middle of the fillet.  This seems to work well in creating a more uniform cooked fillet.

Next, rub the filets with the spice blend you have created. I tend to use a majority of the seasoning, but, it is up to you.  As I served this dish over brown rice, I liked the extra flavor added from more seasoning.   

Lastly, bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  Fish is done when it is flaky and breaks apart easily with a fork.  Below is the finished product over brown rice. 

I do have to say that I may have overdone the rub just a tiny bit... However, if served over brown rice, it did flavor it nicely!  I am always on the lookout for healthy recipes, and tilapia is fairly low in calories for protein.  Also, relatively inexpensive, this makes a great family dish that can be easily toned down by the omission or lessening of cayenne pepper for younger palates.  Happy cooking!