Fish was never a common occurrence in my home growing up. It showed up in tuna fish sandwiches, fish sticks (yeah the ones from the box that you put in the oven), and once a year as a beautiful halibut Christmas Eve delicacy. That’s it. We didn’t eat salmon, tilapia, cod, shrimp, or crabs. We didn’t even eat trout which abundantly populated the three reservoirs near my home. Despite this, I love fish.
I’ve eaten all types and love all types. Except trout. I don’t like trout. I especially am loving fish these days because it can go from frozen to hot on my plate in less than 20 minutes. This particular recipe is full of savory goodness. The key is, of course, my favorite of favorite spices: smoked paprika. I know I’ve mentioned before that I consider this the “bacon of all spices!”
Grilled Blackened Tilapia
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia filets about 6 oz each
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Prepare your grill for medium heat and lightly oil your grill grate.
- Pat fish dry.
- Combine seasoning together and coat fish evenly.
- Grill for about 3 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve withred pepper pico de gallo
Notes
Nutrition
KIDNEYGRUB VERDICT:
I try all the recipes first with no salt to see how they are. The original recipe called for 1 tsp of salt, which made the sodium per fish fillet around 750 mg. Too much for just a piece of meat on the plate. Cutting out the sodium brings the sodium count down to a more comfortable 165 mg.
I thought this was great without the salt. It works because of the tangy lime, smoky paprika, and the zip of the cayenne pepper. Salt can always take a backseat when you have tasty spices. If you’re recently adjusting to less salt in your food, then it understandable if you add a small amount of salt for flavor. Just keep working on making this amount smaller and smaller as your taste-buds adjust.
The potassium rolls in at around 400 mg. Â The majority of the potassium here is actually from the tilapia filet (350mg of potassium for 4 oz filet of raw tilapia). I don’t consider that a low potassium food, but here is why I am okay with it. Â Pretty much all high protein foods have potassium. Â Per the USDA nutritional database, an equivalent amount of chicken rolls in at 210 mg of potassium for 4 oz. Â Salmon? 4 oz just over 400 mg of potassium. Lean ground beef? 350 mg for 4 oz. Â The point being that the renal diet is not a “no potassium diet” it is a “low potassium diet.” Truthfully, I’ve not seen any high potassium levels from crazy amounts of fish, chicken, or hamburger patty intake, which is not saying it doesn’t happen. Â But I have seen some from coconut water. Â And potato chips. Â And spaghetti sauce. And banana pudding… But each of those are a story in and of themselves.