May (Charles)

Sautéed Tilapia with Couscous and Brussel Sprouts

Tilapia Fillets (I like to do one or two per person)
Big Bag of Brussel Sprouts
Box of Couscous
Olive Oil

Sear Tilapia filets in 1-2 tbsp olive oil (about 2 minutes per side). Make sure oil is hot before adding fish. When brown and flakey remove from pan.

Cook couscous according to directions on the box.

Brussel Sprouts: Cut rough ends off of brussels. Put brussels into a zip lock bag. Add 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper to bag. Close bag and mix all together. Place brussel sprouts on a cookie sheet in an even layer and bake on 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until a bit brown and crispy, but not too brown or crispy.

Gastrography
My mother is a great cook, but when I think of her cooking three recipes come right to my mind (all three of which are in this cookbook). She discovered Tilapia when I was in high school and after this discovery we ate a lot of this fish. Tilapia may be a bottom feeder, but it is a delicious bottom feeder and one of the cheapest fish in the grocery store. At one point in my life, after reading Jonathan Safron Foer’s Eating Animals and watching Food Inc. back to back, I was seriously concerned about the food I was eating and even became a vegetarian for a whole week. This book and movie made me realize that the cliché, “You are what you eat,” actually holds some truth. As a society we need to be conscious of the food we are eating. I think the most important thing for me is to try and buy locally as much as possible. Even if you are buying grass fed beef from the grocery store, you still do not have a guarantee that the beef is actually grass fed. Companies are allowed to put “free range” on their packages as long as their chickens merely are able to see sunlight. Chickens cooped up in a shed with a couple of windows does not seem free range to me. I consider myself “food conscious,” but the problem is that I just don’t have the time or the money to be too food conscious at the moment. Alright, so maybe I am just a little lazy, but I hope that one day I can live out my food beliefs, but until then I will keep eating farm raised, bottom-feeding Tilapia.