Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

I was looking for a quick and easy recipe in which I had all the ingredients on hand.  I had a taste for fish and found this in the same magazine that I found that wonderful shrimp salad I posted a few days ago.

One of the things I really like about the AllRecipes magazine are the cook's comments suggestions variations on all of the recipes.  This one suggested lightly seasoning the fish with Old Bay seasoning, substituting or using half and half mayo and sour cream, and adding bread crumbs to the butter mixture.  I did all of these and it came out wonderfully!

This recipe serves four large servings (8 oz each).  Since I was cooking just for one, I scaled down the recipe and only used a 4 oz serving, plenty for me.  I simply sprinkled some Panko breadcrumbs into the butter mixture to give the fillet a very nice crunch.  I served it with some steamed asparagus and a crockpot baked potato.  Wonderful!

BROILED TILAPIA PARMESAN (serves 4)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
2 pounds tilapia (or other mild whitefish....I used Swai) fillets
Old Bay Seasoning, optional
sour cream, optional
Panko breadcrumbs, optional (but strongly encouraged!)

Preheat the broiler.  Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayo, sour cream (if using), and lemon juice.  Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder, and celery salt.  Mix well.  Stir in breadcrumbs if using.  Set aside.

Sprinkle fillets with Old Bay, if using.  Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan.  Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes.  Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.  Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side.  Broil for 2 more minutes, or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.  Be careful not to overcook the fish.

Recipe Source:  www.allrecipes.com/tilapia-parmesan