It’s another month for the Crazy Ingredient Challenge. For those of you who do not know about it, it is headed by Jutta of Hungry Little Girl blog and she selects two ingredients not normally found together then we all have to come up with a unique dish using both. February was a real brain teaser. This month’s crazy ingredient challenge was just that, a challenge. The picks? Strawberries and Mustard.  Now, my brain was flying all over the map on this one. Do I create a dessert? A crepe? I mean, what the heck?!!? After telling Hubby was the challenge was he said “well good luck with THAT.”  Yep, luck was what I needed.

My final decision came when I was meal planning for the week. I purchased a big package of fresh tilapia at Costco and needed to use some. Tilapia is a mild white flaky fish that does not necessarily have a “flavor” of it’s own, rather it picks up flavors from what it’s cooked with.  So with a batch of strawberries, two types of mustard and some imagination, I was off to the kitchen.

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Baked Tilapia with a Mustard Strawberry Sauce

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Serves	2
Prep time	1 hour
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	1 hour, 20 minutes
Allergy	Fish
Meal type	Main Dish

Wonderful sweet and sour flavors enhance the tilapia

Ingredients

• 1/2lb fresh strawberries (sliced)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon Evan Williams whiskey
• 3 tilapia filets
• bread crumbs
• Colman's Powdered mustard
• McCormick's Garlic Pepper Griner
• 1 Large egg (beaten)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup Beaver Valley Honey Mustard
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Note

Add crushed red pepper if you want some extra kick

Directions

Step 1

Mix the strawberries, whiskey, honey and brown sugar coating the strawberries well. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using two plates or coating trays, add the breadcrumbs, McCormicks and Colman's to one and the beaten egg to the other. Dip the tilapia filets into the egg, then coat it with the breadcrumb mix. Place on a cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet. By raising the tilapia off the cookie sheet surface, it will stay crispy and won't get soggy. Repeat with the other filet. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on how thick your filets are.

Step 3

While the tilapia is baking, add the tablespoon of honey, the honey mustard and the brown sugar. Cook until smooth and well blended. Add the strawberry mix and heat through. Serve the sauce over the fish.

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For nutrition information and Weight Watchers Points, click the magic button

Hubby’s initial response to the recipe idea was one of skepticism. But, after I let him taste test the strawberries, he was on board. This recipe turned out to be so simple to make. Just soak the strawberries in the mix for an hour, then bake the fish for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish) and voila…. An easy weeknight dinner that came together well with a wide variety of flavor and texture. This fish is a big winner and the strawberry and mustard combo turned out unique and delicious. Wow. And, hubby put it on his “you must make this again” list.

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Do you want to be a part of the CIC in March and all months going forward? Ready to step outside the cookbook and be truly adventurous? Just click the button below to sign up. Shake it up a bit and have a new adventure in your kitchen in 2014.