Description
This is my take on the cilantro-lime quinoa bowl from everyone’s favorite Mexican-inspired coastal fast food chain. It turned out pretty good. You can season the tilapia or buy the pre-seasoned ones at the market. If you have an Aldi grocery nearby, they have a fresh tilapia seasoned with a Southwest rub, which is perfect for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons paprika
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tilapia fillets
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup quinoa
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 large lime, zested and juiced
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cups chopped romaine lettuce, or to taste
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, or to taste
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 Roma tomato, chopped
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 2 tablespoons roasted pepitas, or to taste
- 2 wedges lime
Instructions
- Combine paprika
- onion powder
- salt
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- oregano
- and garlic powder in a bowl. Rub about 1 tablespoon of the mixture on each side of both tilapia fillets
- making sure to use up all the seasoning. Let fillets sit while preparing the quinoa
- about 15 minutes.
- Combine water
- quinoa
- and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until quinoa absorbs all the liquid
- 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in lime zest
- juice
- and cilantro. Season with salt.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook tilapia fillets until fish flakes easily with a fork
- 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Arrange romaine lettuce and spinach over 2 bowls. Divide tilapia
- cooked quinoa
- black beans
- and tomato over the bowls. Top with avocado and pepitas. Serve each portion with a lime wedge.
Prep Time: 35 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
Servings: 2