Baked Tilapia with Marinara

Here's an easy and quick little dinner I prepared last week. It's one of the few recipes I've come up recently with that I've already made more than once.

First, start with a colorful salad:
Spring mix
Grape tomatoes
Green olives
Feta cheese
Dressing of choice

 **Fun note: If you make the individual salads first, you can stick them in the fridge and serve them in the chilled bowls right before the tilapia comes out of the oven. Fancy-shmancy.**

Now, onto the main event...
Ingredients:
Tilapia fillets (thawed)
1 egg (per about 3 fillets)
Flour
Cooking oil
Marinara Sauce (I used
Feta cheese
Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic salt, parley flakes (optional)
Non-stick cooking spray (optional)

First, dip thawed tilapia fillets in bowl containing a whipped up egg. Coat thoroughly. Then dip in a bowl containing flour, salt, pepper. Make sure the fillets are completely covered in flour.
Place fillets in a already heated skillet (medium high), with enough cooking oil to fully coat the bottom. The idea here is to brown the fish on the outside and give it sort of a crispy texture (for a crispier texture, you could coat your fillets in breadcrumbs, but I only had flour on hand at the time). Once this is achieved (cook on each side until they are as dark as you like, the fish does not have to be cooked through yet), place fish into a baking pan (I used a metal one, covered with aluminum foil - saves you some time when cleaning up later!). You can either spray the foil with a non-stick cooking spray, or use some marinara sauce as a barrier to put the fish on.
Top the fish with as much marinara sauce as you like, crumbled feta cheese, and parsley flakes (optional). You might also add some garlic salt, or just more salt and pepper at this time, depending on how much flavor you like.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until fish is fully cooked (it will easily flake with a fork when it's cooked).

 I wish the photo would capture the yummy bubbling and sizzling!

Serve on top of cooked spaghetti (or your pasta of choice). I also like to have a bowl of heated marinara sauce available, so some extra can be added to the pasta, if needed. I suggest serving this dish with a side of cooked spinach or steamed broccoli, if you're wanting to add a few more veggies to the meal (aside from the salad).

Enjoy!