The Perfect Meal

The other day my status update on facebook highlighted my favorite meal these days and it involved fish. I have to say this again - it involved FISH! Not pizza, mac-n-cheese, a fine cut of steak or some decadent chocolate dessert. I should share that I was not raised eating fish. We were pretty much the meat and potatoes type of family with lots of casseroles, and city chicken...still not really sure what that is. Anyways, I don't remember eating fish at all growing up. The closest thing to it would have been the New Year's Eve's that my parents treated themselves to a pound of shrimp (which I did not eat) or the one time I remember having lobster at home. That noise of their screaming still haunts me! Even as an adult, fish has not been my go-to food at all. I would have always chosen meat, chicken or even turkey.

Well, times have certainly changed! Part of the goal of Weight Watchers is to encourage people to step out of their comfort zone and try new foods - to mix it up a little bit. As I just looked into the fish case at the local grocery store, I was very uncomfortable so I knew I was in the right place. Plus, the lobster tank was right next to it...ahhh! I didn't like the smell of the fish case, had no idea how to prepare it and frankly it just looked...fishy. But, in the true Weight Watchers spirit I pushed through this feeling and ordered some tilapia...sun-dried tomato to be more specific. I like tomatoes - how bad could it be? I also asked the attendant some questions about how to prepare it. Thankfully, we already owned a fish basket and it was in the summer months so we could do it on the grill. I felt better already.

Much to my surprise I LOVED it! Perfectly cooked and tons of flavor. I was also shocked that my family devoured it! I moved this menu item to the top of the rotation list and it appeared at least weekly on our dinner table with rave reviews. I tried various other tilapia breading flavors and also used marinades. I even tried other types of fish - cod, mackerel. But "tilapia fish" as my son calls it was always the clear favorite. Now, I've cut down to probably once every two weeks in the winter months since it is not as good in the oven as the grill. And, on a side note, we had to disable our smoke detector because of the dog's severe anxious reaction to it going off every time we used the broiler.

So, lesson learned here? Keep an open mind and try something new - you never know what you might discover about yourself. And while I still might not consider myself a full-fledged fish person, it is one of my favorite meals now. Who'd a thunk it.