Comforting and Fresh and Delicious . . . Oh, My!

I think it was because Oldest Daughter and I watched the finale of a cooking competition last night that yesterday I just couldn't cook the "usual" for dinner. No spaghetti, no tacos, no goulash. I just had the need to unleash my inner Top Chef . . . well, maybe not, but we can dream.

So, when I looked at Pioneer Woman's food blog entry and found Red Pepper Risotto, and my favorite chef at Publix handed me a plate of Lime Butter Tilapia to try, and I had garden-fresh tomatoes sitting on my counter, well it just all came together!

Don't you just love it when occasionally a meal comes together like that . . . all the planets line up and magically you just put together something dreamy.

And mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm, it was dreamy.

Comforting, fresh and delicious. Would that everything I serve at my sturdy oval dining table could be such!

Lime Butter Tilapia

1 1/2 lb tilapia (orange roughy or flounder) fillets (thawed, if needed)

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 lime (for zest and juice, rinsed)

1 shallot (rinsed)

Using electric skillet, set temperature to 250 degrees. Season both sides of fish with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.

Place 1 tablespoon of the butter into pan; swirl to coat. Add fish; cook 2 minutes on each side. (my favorite Publix chef told me this was long enough, and amazingly it was!! This fish was the softest and moistest I've ever had!)Cook time may vary depending on the thickness of the fish.

Meanwhile, cut remaining 4 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces; place in small bowl to soften. Peel several strips of lime peel, without any white pith, with zester (or vegetable peeler). Chop finely for zest (1 tablespoon); add to butter. Remove ends and peel from shallot; chop shallot finely and add to butter.

Stir remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper into softened butter mixture until well blended; chill until ready to serve.

Squeeze juice of lime (1 tablespoon) over fish; remove fish from pan. Top fish with lime butter mixture and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Publix Apron's