Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce & O’Reilly’s

A few weeks ago, Jerry, posted a recipe for Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce that he originally got from Cooking Light. It looked so good, I knew I wanted to make it but always having the hardest time finding Red Curry Paste, I wasn’t sure when. Then last weekend we popped into Dean and DeLuca and I saw the paste. I couldn’t remember what I needed it for, but I knew I needed it, so I bought some. When I got home, and was planning our weekly menu, with fish for Friday because of Lent, I remembered, so ta da!

I know, I glopped on a lot more sauce than Jerry seemed to. Also, I didn’t use Basmati rice but one of those Lundberg rice blends instead. All this along with some steamed sugar snap peas drizzled with a bit of sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds and that was one good dinner.

I’ll post the recipe for those of you too lazy to check out Jerry’s blog but you really ought to – lots of good stuff over there.

Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

1 teaspoon dark sesame oil, divided
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green onions
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
Cooking spray
3 cups hot cooked basmati rice
4 lime wedges
Preheat broiler.

Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add pepper and onions; cook 1 minute. Stir in curry powder, curry paste, and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and coconut milk; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.
Brush fish with 1/2 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve fish with sauce, rice, and lime wedges.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet, 1/2 cup sauce, 3/4 cup rice, and 1 lime wedge)

CALORIES 506 (30% from fat); FAT 17.1g (sat 5.9g,mono 6g,poly 2.5g); PROTEIN 29g; CHOLESTEROL 82mg; CALCIUM 47mg; SODIUM 616mg; FIBER 3.1g; IRON 2.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 56.6g

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 2002

Oh and this comes in at a whopping 11 Weight Watcher points but remember that includes the rice. I knocked my points down a bit because of the brown rice blend and I had a smaller piece of fish with less sauce.

The Wine

I almost forgot, and on edit thought I’d come back in, to mention the wine we drank with our meal. Originally, Chris thought we would open the Justin Saugnivnon Blanc we bought during our Paso Robles Weekend but I was in the mood for a red. So instead, we opened a bottle of 1996 O’Reilly’s Pinot Noir from Oregon that we bought during our Vermont Trip at Fine Wine Cellars. I like this red – it’s not powerful, but strong enough to stand up to the curry in the tilapia while remaining easy on the pallet and non-overpowering. I think it would also go great with some roast chicken or turkey.