5:30 Challenge
5 ingredients/30 minutes
Tonight’s solution
Mushroom-Smothered Tilapia
To make the meal
Green salad
Whole wheat couscous
Paging through a 1978 cookbook, Decatur reader Barbara Ribner was reminded of the versatility of a can of cream of mushroom soup. It just happened she had a can of soup in her pantry and a refrigerator stocked with fresh tilapia and mushrooms. A delicious recipe was born.
“That’s how all my recipes start,” Ribner told us. “What can I do with what I have, and that I haven’t done before?”
The first testers were her husband and son, who found it tasty. Then she shared the dish with her 91-year-old neighbor, who is another lucky beneficiary of Ribner’s cooking. “If they all agree that a dish is great, then it’s passed muster,” she said. This recipe passed the test and Ribner shared it with us.
Once the fish goes in the oven, you’ll have time to prepare a few side dishes. For a vegetable, a quick option is to steam spinach in the microwave. The sauce from the fish deserves something to absorb its creamy flavors. We chose quick-cooking whole wheat couscous.
Take the 5:30 Challenge. If you have a great-tasting main-dish recipe that uses no more than five ingredients and can be made in 30 minutes or less, tell us. (Salt, pepper, water and oil for greasing a pan don’t need to be included in the ingredient count.) You can also suggest a side dish if it can be made within the same time. Send recipes with your name, address and phone number to fivethirty@ajc.com.
Mushroom-Smothered Tilapia
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
4 (3-ounce) tilapia fillets
1 (8-ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
1 (10 1/2-ounce) can low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Arrange fillets in baking dish so no parts overlap. Set aside.
In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes or until beginning to cook through. Stir in parsley and sauté 2 minutes. Add undiluted soup and lemon juice, stir to combine. Pour over fish.
Bake fish uncovered just until tilapia flakes, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper if desired.
Per serving: 180 calories (percent of calories from fat, 35), 20 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 7 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 32 milligrams cholesterol, 347 milligrams sodium.
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