Pan Seared Tilapia Over Indian Corn Recipe

I've been living in California for 8 years now, and I absolutely love it. But sometimes I just need to reconnect with my Jersey roots. And nothing reminds me of a New Jersey summer like fresh corn and tomatoes. So for this quick bite, I'm making my pan-seared tilapia over Indian corn with tomatoes. And here's all you'll need. One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a diced up red onion, two cloves of chopped up garlic, half of a minced jalapeno, four ears of corn with the kernels cut off the cob, a tablespoon of both cumin and smoked paprika, a 15-ounce can of white beans rinsed and drained, a cup of grape tomatoes, quartered, a pound of tilapia, a tablespoon of butter, a big handful of chopped cilantro, and some salt and pepper to taste. So the last thing I'm going to do before I start cooking is season up my tilapia with a little bit of salt, smoked paprika, you're going to use about half of our paprika here, and some fresh black pepper. Just rub that in a little bit with your fingertips. Then you're going to flip it over and do the same thing on the opposite side. I've got two non-stick saute pans here. One's going to be for the fish, the other's for the corn. Now this guy is heating up over a medium-high heat, and to this I'm going to add about a teaspoon of olive oil, just enough to get my veggie started. Then in go the onion, garlic, and our jalapeno pepper. Give it a pinch of salt, and I'm going to let that go for about five minutes or so, just until those onions look translucent. So it's been about five minutes, and everything is really fragrant, and the onions are nice and translucent. So that's how you know you're ready for your corn. Now guys, this dish is all about using fresh corn, so don't try to cheat this with frozen corn or canned corn, because you're not going to get the same results. Then to that we're adding our smoky cumin. Cumin is nice because it's smoky without the heat. We're getting our heat from the jalapeno, and the rest of the paprika. Just bring this all together, and I'm going to let that go another five minutes or so. Now because I'm only adding a little bit of oil, and finishing it with a little bit of butter at the end, I'm just going to add a splash of water to add some moisture. Whenever you have ingredients that grow in the same season, you can pretty much guarantee that they are going to taste great together. It's kind of like a universal recipe from Mother Nature, and here is the best way to remember it. What grows together goes together. How easy is that? So it's been about five minutes, and the corn is getting nice and tender, and I can really smell the smokiness from that paprika and the cumin. So that's how we know we're ready for our next ingredients, which is our white beans. I've got cannellini beans here. You could also use white northern beans. They'd work just as well, and our fresh chopped tomatoes. One more pinch of salt and some fresh black pepper. So we're going to bring this all together, and then I'm just going to let it go for a couple more minutes, because I just want the beans and the tomatoes to heat through, and I really don't want to overcook my corn. Then we're going to come back and finish this up. In the meantime, come on over here, and we're going to get going on the tilapia. I've got a large nonstick pan heating up over a medium-high heat, and to that I'm going to add a little bit of olive oil. Once your oil is good and hot, you're ready to get your tilapia fillet into the pan. Ah, you hear that sizzle? That's how we know the pan was hot enough. Now you want to be careful not to overcrowd the pan, because if you do, they're going to end up steaming, and we're not going to get that nice crispy edge that we're looking for. I'm going to let these go about two to three minutes, and then we'll flip them and get the other side. In the meantime, I'm going to finish off my corn. Now I like to add a little bit of real butter right at the end, because it gives it that nice, rich, buttery flavor without having to add layers and layers of it throughout the whole dish. Let that melt in a little bit, and then our final touch is some nice, fresh, bright cilantro. This adds great flavor and great color. One last stir, and our corn is done. I'm shutting the heat off and finishing up my fish. Now once you see the edges of the tilapia getting nice and opaque like we do right here, that's how you know you're ready to flip. So just get underneath there and flip her over. Mm-mm-mm-mm. We got that nice brown edge just like I'm looking for. This second side's only going to take another minute or so, and then we are going to plate it up. So here's what I like to do. I take a nice, big spoonful, and then some of the corn and tomato mixture, and then I just lay my tilapia right over the top. So there you have it. Some of my favorite summertime Jersey flavors with a little clean and delicious twist. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Dani Spees, and I'll see you next time with another quick bite. Now I gotta try this. Mm. So good. What is that? That is funny.