Usually, my go-to recipe for tilapia has been Broiled Tilapia Parmesan – it’s so amazing, please do yourself a favor and try it!
But since my yard is now covered in dandelions, I wanted to see if I could somehow incorporate the greens with my favorite fish. The only recipe I found was one for fish tacos; and although I’m not vehemently opposed to fish tacos, I just wasn’t feeling them for dinner that night. Plus, I didn’t have any tortillas, so tacos were just not happening.
I did, however, have pita bread (like every good Arab wife ;)) so I decided I’d go ahead and attempt this recipe and see how far I got. I made a few changes and omissions based on our tastes and what I had on hand, and it turned out pretty yummy! We also made Mashed Potatoes with Dandelion Greens and Carmelized Onions that night, so check out that recipe as well!
I washed and chopped the greens, then boiled them until tender. Then I sautéed onions and garlic and added the greens, sprinkled some crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper, and let it all simmer while I cooked the fish.
The fish was pan-fried in a skillet with lemon, then broken apart into smaller pieces.
Then I just spooned the tilapia and greens into separate bowls, and drizzled the fish juices onto the greens.
I laid half a pita on the plate, and layered it with the greens, followed by the tilapia…
…and ate it sort of like a pizza 🙂
And there you have it! My take on tilapia with dandelion greens, although I still want to try the fish tacos one time too! Enjoy!
This recipe was part of a series on cooking with dandelions, view other recipes in this series here: Dandelions: Friend or Foe (With Recipes!)
This recipe was loosely adapted from here.
| Tilapia and Dandelion Greens on Pita |
- 1 bunch dandelion greens,
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ cup oil
- 2 tilapia fillets
- 1 lemon
- 1 whole wheat pita
- salt and pepper
- crushed red pepper
- dried basil
- Bring medium pot of salted water to boil. Cut dandelion greens into 2-inch sections, and wash thoroughly.
- Place washed, cut-up greens into boiling water and cook until leaves are tender, about 10 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat, drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.
- Heat ¼ cup oil in skillet on low. Add onion and garlic and sauté on medium-low heat to desired level of brownness. Add drained dandelion greens and a dash of crushed red pepper, to taste. Stir everything together and let simmer.
- Heat ¼ cup oil in wide, shallow pan on medium heat. Add tilapia fillets.
- Squeeze half the lemon over fish. Flip fillets after about 5 minutes, and squeeze other lemon half over fish.
- When fish is cooked through, use spatula to cut fillets into small, square-ish pieces. Add sea salt and pepper. Sautee about another five minutes.
- Cut pita in half and lay on plate. Layer with half the greens mixture and top with tilapia.
Is there a different way to access your recipes? I’ve tried a couple pages (this one, dandelions part 2) and the links in your posts are broken. I’ve also tried using your search engine, I searched “dandelion” and it said there were no results. Just letting you know!
Thanks Kristen! I’ll have to take a look and fix those links.