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Friday, December 25, 2009

Healthy Tilapia Fish Recipes

By: KC Kudra
There are plenty of tilapia fish recipes to choose from, each offering a slightly different flavor and texture. Tilapia is a very versatile fish and one of the best cooking methods for this fish is to bake it.

All baked fish recipes are tasty but tilapia is also very healthy and high in nutrients. If you want to eat a nutritionally balanced diet, tilapia is a great fish to include. It is mild in flavor, which means you can use strong sauces, spices, or marinades if you wish. Tilapia is available all year round and has a variety of health benefits.
Tilapia is available in over 100 varieties but black and red tilapia is the most common. After cooking, the flesh is totally white. Tilapia can be found in both saltwater and fresh water and the taste depends on the water type because tilapia absorbs the flavor of the water where it was raised.

Why Tilapia Fish Recipes are So Healthy

A small portion of tilapia fish contains 85 calories. A piece of salmon the same size has 158 calories, which is almost double! Tilapia contains 1g of fat compared to 7.9g of fat in the same sized portion of salmon.

Tilapia contains no carbohydrates or fiber. It is low in sodium and a good source of phosphorus and niacin. Tilapia is also a plentiful source of selenium, protein, and vitamin B12. The only negatives are that it is quite high in cholesterol and does not contain healthy omega-3 fatty oils but you can make up for this by consuming oily fish such as mackerel or salmon once or twice a week too.

Tilapia fish recipe nutrients vary depending on how the fish is prepared and cooked and what fats or sauces are added. You can marinate tilapia but you should only marinate it for a short time because else the proteins will be broken down, resulting in mushy fish. Grilling is another cooking method although tilapia does tend to be thin and small, meaning it tears easily if you are not careful. It needs only a few minutes grilling else it might dry out. Tilapia has a delicate taste and suits most seasonings. Grilling is a healthy way of cooking tilapia. You might want to grill a whole fish with some seasoning added or you might want to marinate it first.

You can use a baked tilapia recipe too. You will need to add fat by brushing on some oil or melted butter, to ensure the fish remains moist. This type of fish can dry out easily because there is very little fat content, so using butter or oil has great results.

When using baked fish recipes, you can place the fish on a bed of onion and celery or bake vegetables alongside it in the same baking dish. You will also need to add oil or butter when sauting tilapia. Steaming this fish is a healthy way to prepare it, since no extra fats are added.

Cooking Tilapia Fish with Oil

You can saut or bake tilapia in melted butter or oil. If you prefer to use oil, sunflower oil or peanut oil are the best to use, since they are almost flavorless and will not interfere with the flavor of the fish. You can use canola oil or olive oil too but they do contribute taste rather than simply being used to cook the tilapia. Fats are one of the essential food groups so preparing tilapia in this way might be a good option.


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