YOU SHOULD ONLY BE HAPPY ....

recipe: Cornmeal-crusted tilapia with guacamole is a quick and easy dish perfect for the end of a long day

By Mary Bilyeu AnnArbor.com Community Contributor

Posted on Wed, Nov 14, 2012 : 8 a.m.

Mary Bilyeu | Contributor

It's easy to celebrate National Guacamole Day. Even if you don't mash your own avocados, you can find prepared guacamole at virtually any grocery store.

But there's no need to just serve it with chips. It's a fabulous complement to a simple fried fish that's been flavored with taco seasoning.

This dinner took maybe 15 minutes to make, from start to finish. So not only is it delicious, but it's something that can be prepared quickly and easily. What more do you need at the end of a long work day than fast food that's homemade and tastes great?

Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia with Guacamole

Tilapia:
1/4 cup flour
generous pinch of kosher salt
generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning
4 3-ounce tilapia filets
2 tablespoons oil

Combine flour, salt and pepper on a large plate. Combine egg and water in a small baking dish. Combine cornmeal and taco seasoning on a large plate.

One by one, take the tilapia filets and coat them first in the flour mixture, then in egg, then in the cornmeal until well coated.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish filets and cook for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden and crisp. Serve immediately with guacamole.

Guacamole:
2 very ripe avocados, peeled, seeded juice of 1/2 lime 1/2 cup pico de gallo

Mash together the avocados and the lime juice; stir in the pico de gallo and salt.

Serves 2-4.

Mary Bilyeu writes for AnnArbor.com on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, telling about her adventures in the kitchen - making dinner, celebrating holidays, entering cooking contests, meeting new friends ... whatever strikes her fancy. She is also on a mission to find great deals for her Frugal Floozie Friday posts, seeking fabulous food at restaurants on the limited budget of only $5 per person. Feel free to email her with questions, comments, or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — where she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related; and look for her monthly articles in the Washtenaw Jewish News. "Like" her on Facebook, or send a tweet on Twitter, too.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers - when you come to visit here, may you always be happy.