Monday Munchies...Tilapia

Today is Monday, and if you're like me, you thrive off of a schedule, predictability, structure.  How many of you wait to tackle a weekly goal until Monday?!? Anyone?  Can't just be me!  I have many weekly goals that help structure and support my well being, exercise and diet being one of them.  I know there's been a lot of anti-diet culture talk going around out there, but "diet" is a very superficial word that's often times misconstrued.  I don't want this post to be around diet culture, but everyone has a story, and if your story makes you uncomfortable, or you think someone you know needs help, please seek out additional support.  Otherwise, those of us who are "dieting" within the realm of normal, please know that it's much more than a diet, and it doesn't all have to be bad. 

Some of my favorite "diet" friendly meals, are those made of fish.  I love that fish can be made with dairy options, for those of us who keep kosher, #whenyouknowyouknow  I love that there are fish options that have little to no fat, and higher fat, making it a truly flexible diet option that can be customized to fit into your daily meal plan.  For those of you who don't know, I count macros as my for of "diet" and you can read more about that HERE.   

So, if you're a wait until Monday kinda person, here is an awesome tilapia recipe to get your week going!  I'm taking some tilapia out of the freezer as soon as this post is published, and I'm going to be sure to take out extra for the rest of the week! 

Baked Lemon Butter Tilapia

• *1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

*to make this dairy free, I used Smart Balance 

I've recently discovered how often I use lemons for fresh cooking, and this recipe definitely re-enforced that!  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray a 9×13 baking dish.  

In a small bowl, whisk together butter, garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest. 

Season tilapia with salt and pepper,  place onto the prepared baking dish, and drizzle with butter mixture.

Bake until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10-12 minutes.

Garnish with parsley, and serve immediately.