Hellobee

I started the Whole30 this February for the first time – I’m 1/3 of the way done, woo hoo! Although I’m pretty late to the bandwagon here on HB, this is all new for me. Mr. T joined me in solidarity but quit after day 6. Our meals were getting pretty repetitive (eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, grilled meat + stir fried veggies for dinner) and he just couldn’t take it anymore! I’m going to try my best to make it the full 30 days, but that means I need to be more imaginative about the meals I’m making. We also don’t eat beef or pork, which leaves us only with poultry and fish – further limiting!

One of K’s favorite foods is pan-fried tilapia. I typically make it for him using mayo and store-bought breadcrumbs. I had almond flour on hand for other Whole30 recipes and gave this modification a spin. All four of us loved it! It’s also nice to get at that breaded texture in a technically-compatible way (although the official Whole30 position is that attempts to recreate banned foods using approved ingredients are discouraged – oh well!). This was also super quick to throw together after I got home from work; we always get the big bag of individually packed fillets and they defrost really quickly in a bowl of water.

• 4 boneless, skinless tilapia fillets (other white fish would work too!)
• 1 egg
• 1.5 teaspoons Old Bay
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 tablespoon light olive oil (coconut oil would be great as well!)

1. Defrost the fillets and pull them apart. Tilapia fillets are pretty uneven so I prefer to cook the thicker side and the thinner side separately – plus then you have 8 pieces to share instead of 4!

2. Stick a large skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil. While it’s warming up…

3. Beat the egg with a whisk or a fork in a wide, shallow bowl and add the Old Bay. I’m born and raised in MD so Old Bay is one of my favorite seasonings, but you could really put any spice mix here that you like! Season all, garam masala, garlic powder, paprika, etc. The small amount gives it a little kick but doesn’t make it overpower the breading.

4. Pour the almond flour onto a rimmed plate (I always use the kid’s Ikea plates!). You should have an assembly line going on your counter- bowl of fish, bowl of egg, plate of flour, stove.

5. Piece by piece, dip the fish in the egg mixture coating both sides well and allowing excess to drip off. Transfer to the flour plate and coat both sides well. I try to keep one hand egg-y and one hand flour-y so my fingers don’t get pasty and pull the breading off. Either transfer the breaded fish to a plate or directly to the pan. Keep going until all the pieces are either in the pan or ready for the pan.

6. Cover the pan, let the fish cook for about 7 minutes, or until you see the edges started to brown. Flip all the pieces over and repeat.

7. Transfer fish to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess oil. Enjoy!

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Of course, the kids aren’t on Whole30. Here’s what K’s dinner looked like – he ate almost everything! He likes to eat plain steamed broccoli because he pretends he’s a giraffe and they’re trees. Purple is his favorite color, and he eats on this divided plate for almost every meal. For the adults, I added a heaping mound of steamed broccoli and carrots (with seasoning) – no rice for me!

Let me know if you try this and what you think! Any Whole30 compatible recipes that I have to try?