Tilapia

Asparagus lovers, unite! When thinly sliced into coins and mixed with herbs and briny olives, everyone’s favorite spring veg will become your favorite condiment too.

When it comes to frying fish, a whole fish is a whole lot more forgiving than fillets and easier to cook. And did we mention that crispy, flaky skin?

One of the most comforting ways to eat fish: Gently simmer spiced chunks of white fish in a warm coconut curry until it's fall-apart flaky.

Don't have 60 minutes to roast a root vegetable for this tilapia recipe? Try cooking yams in a microwave for about five minutes on each side and you'll have yams that are soft and ready to mash—fast.

I'll cook this fast, easy and satisfying dish many more times. But I think I'll stick to fish with a little more character.

Right after Thanksgiving, if you are anything like me, you also won't want to look at another saucepan for an entire year—but alas, some dinners must be sauced. So, you can imagine my sheer delight in discovering this tilapia was a snap! A very tasty snap.

The preparation may look complicated, but it's actually pretty easy—because your guests assemble the tacos themselves.

Caldo de oso is traditionally made with catfish, though any white fish will work in this soup, a specialty of Chihuahua in Mexico. 

The final touch for this dish is a pour of hot oil over the top, providing an additional flash-fry of aromatic flavor as the oil sizzles over the scallions and ginger.

This rich, flavorful Nigerian dish brings together bold chile heat, the pleasant funk of fermented locust beans and dried shrimp, and a good dose of Old Bay.

An easy herbed butter infuses fish and vegetables with rich flavor in this family-friendly dinner.

An elegant Mediterranean-inspired fish dinner with green beans, tomatoes, and olives is just a push of the microwave button away.

Take fried fish, break it up, and douse it with lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, chiles, and cilantro, and you have an incredible jumble of textures and flavors. Because you hack the fish into bits, there's no need to find perfect-for-presentation fillets, so this is a great way to use those that aren't flawless, as long as they're fresh.

An homage to the breaded and baked fish at Luby's cafeteria in Texas, this tilapia goes Tex-Mex with a salty corn-chip crust.

While some recipes require elaborate introductions justifying particular flavor combinations, the creation from Epicurious member Sarah Perl of Brooklyn, New York, needs little justification as it eventually won her a husband. Perl also praises the dish for its versatility: “It’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner and special enough for a dinner party.” So, choose a fresh fish fillet and serve up this dish in the name of romance.

Looking for a fast, inexpensive, and tempting weeknight meal? Epicurious member Leah Hook of Reading, Massachusetts, has a fish dish that’s just the ticket. The breaded tilapia fillets are quickly seared in a hot pan, and then drenched in a sauce made from orange juice and sriracha sauce and served over brown rice. “Don’t stress about whether the flour sticks evenly to the tilapia,” Hook says. “The idea is that some flour will stick on some parts of the fillet, and those parts will soak up the tasty sauce.”

Try this technique with any mild, flaky white fish, including sole, tilapia, or turbot, all of which work nicely with the sauce. Brown butter—or buerre noisette, created when butter is cooked until the milk solids turn golden brown—is one of those à la minute (cooked to order) sauces that should be a part of any home cook’s repertoire, since it can be altered in countless ways. Nuts are classically paired with browned butter, as their flavors are complementary; citrus juice or wine balances the richness; and other ingredients, such as herbs, provide complexity. Since this recipe is so quick to prepare, you need to have your mise en place at the ready before you heat the pan. Toast and chop the hazelnuts, suprême the citrus, and put salt, pepper, and flour in separate dishes (for seasoning and dredging the fish) set near the stove.