Pecan-Crusted Tilapia

The Recipe: For most of my life I never ate fish. Then, after we were married, I decided I should add some fish to my repertoire of things I can eat and prepare. So I found two tilapia recipes that I came to like. Recently, I'd been making baked lemon dill tilapia for us, specifically for Henry since it's a good way to get him to eat protein and adds some variety to his diet. I found this pecan fish recipe in my old standby easy meal cookbook and knew I had to try it. I never thought I'd be taking seconds of seafood, but this tilapia was great.

What You Need:
tilapia filets (I buy them frozen. For this recipe, I defrosted 5 of them)
about 1 C finely chopped pecans (I used one big handful of nuts then chopped them with a big knife. A food processor would probably work even better.)
1/2 C dry breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 T milk
salt and pepper
lemon juice
vegetable oil

Your Turn:
Using a fork, beat egg with milk in a shallow bowl.

Stir chopped pecans and breadcrumbs together in a shallow bowl.

Sprinkle thawed tilapia filets with salt and pepper on both sides.

Dredge each piece of fish first in the egg, then in the crumbs/nuts. Press some of the nut mixture into the fish.

Heat vegetable oil (about 2 T) in a large skillet.

Add fish.
*Since my pecan pieces were a little big, I actually pushed some into the top side of each piece of fish after I placed them all in the skillet. When I flipped them, I did so carefully to keep those big pieces of nut on the underside of the fish. Some fell off, but they were yummy to scoop up and put on top of the fish once it was plated.

Cook about 4-5 minutes, then flip carefully with a pancake turner and cook another 4-5 minutes until it flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with lemon juice or lemon wedges.