Easy Grilling: Tilapia with Herbs

Once the weather warms up, I grill as much as possible. I alternate between fish, chicken and boneless pork, depending what is on sale. Fish is especially easy and fun to experiment with as long as you take it easy and don't over do the herbs or spices. Frozen tilapia is often on sale, and this is one method I used that turned out tasty and moist.

First, I gathered a small bunch of lemon thyme from the garden. I stripped about a teaspoon of the leaves off the stems and placed it in a bowl. I added about a tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 tsp. of garlic pepper and the same amount of kosher salt. I mixed this together well and brushed it on the thawed fish, which I had placed on a sheet of foil. I then placed the remainder of the lemon thyme on top of the fish, leaving on the stems.

I preheated the grill, then turned it down on low. I placed the foil with the fish on the grill and closed the lid. I turned it once, leaving on the loose thyme so it was on the bottom. I continued to check it often, and turned it once more. It was almost cooked to where it was flaking, so I dotted the fish with a small amount of butter (at the most a tablespoon). When it was melted, and the fish cooked, I removed it from the grill and placed it on plates. I served it with potatoes I had microwaved, then cut in chunks and sauteed in a pan with butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. (I also like sauteing sliced sweet onion before adding the potatoes.)

Variations: If you don't have lemon thyme, regular garden thyme will work, plus a little lemon juice added to the mixture. You can also use minced or crushed garlic and freshly ground pepper instead of garlic pepper. This method would work with any white fish fillets such as whitefish, catfish or perch.

Visit OFL for a warm weather menu, including Italian Grilled Chicken.

~Brenda