Blackened Tilapia Salad

One of my favorite restaurant meals is at a pub in the Salt Lake City airport, called Squatters. My mom and I ordered this salad the first time, and I have had it at least one or two more times since (which is something because I don't fly all that often).

I really want to recreate this salad at home, so I looked up Squatters to find a description of the salad on their website. Here it is:

Yum?? Yes. Plus they use really great ingredients (local & organic when they can!)

In recreating it there were four basic steps. The Quinoa, the blackened Tilapia, the guacamole (in the airport this is what they use instead of avocado slices) and the cilantro lime dressing. I skipped out on the fried "tortilla ribbons" and the aioli sauce this time around.

High points: the guacamole, cilantro lime sauce, quinoa, and spinach were amazing. Especially the quinoa and guacamole. The only thing that wasn't amazing was the tilapia! :( It was just too darn spicy!!! Next time I'll use a different recipe for the tilapia. Other than this though, it was really tasty. Maybe next time, actually, I won't use any tilapia.

Here is the recipe(s):

Blackened Tilapia Salad
original recipe here

Part One: Cooking the Quinoa

1/2 cup uncooked, dry quinoa
3/4 cups cold water
pinch of salt

Let the quinoa soak in water for about 15 minutes. Use hotter water if you need it to hurry along. Pour the water off of the top, then rinse it with a mesh strainer under running water for quite some time. Don't just dump it right into the strainer before draining it. The drained water has some bitter flavoring from the quinoa that you want down the drain!

Put the rinsed quinoa into your cooking pot and add the water and salt. Let it come to a boil on high heat uncovered, then cover it with a tight lid, turn the heat down to low, and allow it to cook for another 15 minutes. After this time, keep it covered, but remove from heat and let it sit, covered, for another 5 minutes.

When this is done open the lid and fluff it with a fork! You can use it right away or (like I did) let it cook and store it in a glass container in the fridge to use later.

Part Two: The Blackened Tilapia
Adapted from here

1 tilapia fillet, thawed if frozen
1 Tbs paprika (I ran out, so used less than this)
1 tsp salt (I used more like 1/2 tsp actually)
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
pinch of garlic powder
1 tsp vegetable oil

Mix all the spices and oil together to form a rub. Rub the rub (!) on both sides of the fillet. Allow the fillet to sit with the rub at room temp for about half an hour.

When it's ready to be cooked, heat a large non-stick frypan at medium-medium high, and plop the fillet into the pan. Let it cook until the opaqueness is creeping up the sides of the fish (about 3 minutes) then flip it over and finish cooking on the other side. Serve immediately.

Part Three: The Cilantro Lime Sauce
Adapted from here

1/2 jalapeno seeded and chopped
1 small garlic clove, chopped
about 1 tsp fresh chopped/minced ginger

Pop these ingredients into a blender, and give it a whirl. When they're pretty well mixed/chopped, add the rest of the ingredients.

Juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tbs honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp salt (again, I used a little less)
2 Tbs super-packed fresh cilantro

Mix it all together and liquify the crap out of it!!! Then add:

2 Tbs olive oil

Mix it all together a final time, pour it into a resealable container, pop it in the fridge, and save it for later.

Part Four: THE GUACAMOLE!!!!!

1 avocado
juice of 1/2 lime
about 2-3 tbs chopped cilantro
a few chunks of tomato
salt and pepper to taste

Mush up avocado. Stir in lime, cilantro, tomato, and salt and pepper. Be happy.

ASSEMBLING THE SALAD!!!

Start with a bowl/plate thing. Add spinach. Add about 1/3 cup of your cooked quinoa. Add the guacamole in a big blob on the side. Sprinkle about 1 Tbs of the cilantro lime sauce over the spinach and quinoa. Add the cooked blackened tilapia on top!

Have a glass of water handy, this tilapia is intense. Or just omit it all together, there's easily enough flavor with the cilantro lime sauce and the guacamole to make that okay!