Dinner Rush! Tilapia with Grapefruit + Avocado Salsa

How good does this sound: dinner on the table with two minutes of prep, less than 20 minutes of cooking and only one dish to wash. Delicious, right? That’s the beauty of cooking dinner in foil on the grill.

This easy, all-in-one meal is a lickety-split affair thanks to tender vegetables and lean tilapia (though any whitefish or even some shrimp would be great, too). Insider tip: Upgrade to heavy-duty foil to avoid having to scrape remnants out from the grill grates, since subpar foil can sometimes fall apart.

The salsa — which totally brings the whole thing together – is fresh and pretty mild. If you’re one of those fiery, adventurous types, leave the seeds in the chile for a burst of heat. Speaking of heat, how great is the feeling of having dinner ready without having to lay a finger on the oven?
Tilapia with Avocado-Grapefruit Salsa
Total Time: 17 min
Prep: 2 min
Cook: 15 min
Level: Easy
Yield: 4 servings
For the fish:
1 pound snap peas, trimmed
1/2 small bunch cilantro
Four 6-ounce tilapia filets
1 lime, thinly sliced
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
For the salsa:
1 ripe avocado, pitted and chopped
1 large grapefruit, peeled and chopped
1 cup mixed cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 red chile, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

To prepare fish, tear off four sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil that are about 12 inches long. Divide snap peas and cilantro between foil sheets, clustering them in the middle. Place tilapia over vegetables and top with lime slices, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Wrap up foil packets. Place on grill and cook until fish is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.

While fish is cooking, combine all ingredients for salsa and season with salt and pepper. Reserve.

Serve fish in foil packets, garnished with salsa.

NOTE: If a grill is unavailable, the foil-wrapped fish can be baked in a 400-degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Patrick W. Decker’s life revolves around food. Always has, probably always will. As a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America and past member of the culinary teams for Food Network stars Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, Marc Forgione and Bobby Deen, he now works on digital production for FoodNetwork.com, CookingChannelTV.com and Food.com in NYC by day and develops recipes at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley by night. You can see what he’s up to by following him on Twitter & Instagram at @patrickwdecker or visiting his website at patrickwdecker.com.

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