Grilled Tilapia and Kale Salad: improvisation at its finest

You can never be too sure of what will result from an improvised meal, but when someone forgets to bring the list of ingredients for your Halibut recipe to the grocery store, you don't have much of a choice but to wing it. Fortunately for my friend Christian and me, we had success with our tilapia dinner!

Not exactly sure what direction to take, we pretty much pulled our ingredients at random, placing into our basket whatever looked appealing. Upon checkout, we ended up with basil leaves, garlic, lime, kale, jicama, and of course, the tilapia. Only after everything was spread out before us on the kitchen counter did we decide how everything was going to come together.

We decided to make a simple kale and jicama salad with a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (both of which we already had in the kitchen), and foil-grilled tilapia with lime, basil, garlic, olive oil, pink Himalayan sea salt, and ground black pepper (we had the Himalayan sea salt and pepper on hand, as well). What resulted was a light, lean, nutrient-dense, and incredibly flavorful meal that I would eat again, anytime! 

If you're interested in trying out this meal for yourself, you'll need: (makes 4 servings)

*The measurements below are largely based on approximations, so feel free to make slight adjustments as you feel necessary (just be sure not to go overboard with the salt or oil!).

For the salad:

- 1 bunch kale

- 1 medium jicama

- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

For the tilapia:

- 1 pound tilapia

- 1 lime

- 2 cloves garlic

- 3-4 basil leaves

- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt 

- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

To make the salad, wash and chop up the kale and jicama, placing all into a bowl. Then pour in the balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and toss. 

For the tilapia, place the fish onto sheets of foil with the corners lifted upward (you don't want your ingredients to run off). Cut the lime into slices, mince the garlic, and break up the basil leaves. Then distribute the garlic and basil pieces equally amongst the fillets of fish, sprinkle on the salt and pepper, drizzle on the olive oil, place a slice of lime atop each fillet, and then wrap everything up in the foil for cooking. Grill for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees, and when ready, dig in!