Baked Tilapia with Sliced Yams

We are trying to lose weight around here. My son has a six-pack for abs. Me? I’ve got a small keg.

So we are eating a lot of fish. Cyndi posted a great fish recipe the other day but I looked at it and decided that from a presentation perspective, I wanted the dish to have more color. Sweet Potatoes! I thought. I basically recreated her recipe using sweet potatoes instead of Yukon Golds. I also added some chopped dried Medjool Dates to add a sweet dimension.

Baked Tilapia with Sliced Potatoes

3 large Sweet Potatoes
butter for greasing the baking dish
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
2 tablespoons dried chopped parsley flakes
4 Tilapia filets
6 large dried Medjool Dates

Preheat the oven to 425F. Slice each date lengthwise and remove the pit. Chop the dates into 3/8-inch size pieces and set them aside.

Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them approximately 1/8-inch thick. Toss them with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil, half the garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Liberally grease a large rectangular (9 x 13) baking dish with butter. Spread the sweet potatoes over the bottom of the baking dish. Place the baking dish in the oven for about 15 minutes in the lower third of the oven.

Meanwhile, mix the parsley, remaining garlic, 1.2 teaspoon salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Use it as a rub for the Tilapia.

After the potatoes have cooked for about 15 minutes, remove the dish from the oven, place the tilapia on top of the sweet potato later, scatter the chopped dates over the fish, and drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil over the fish. Place the dish back in the oven on a rack in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish flakes with a fork.