Lemon barbeque tilapia with roasted garlic wasabi mashed sweet potatoes

I can see you on the other side of the internet looking at me in that same odd way my husband did when I told him what I was making this evening.

Well, let me tell you that it turned out beautifully.

...I should note that the aforementioned beauty was more apparent in the first picture I took of this dish, however the camera lacked its memory card at the time of the shot. About halfway through my meal, I realized what had happened, speedily rearranged my half devoured tilapia filet on my plate and took another, less impressive picture. I am a fan of that artful swoop of sauce though, très Iron Chef me thinks.

Anyway, enough of that silliness, here's what went down. This is the recipe for two servings:

2 tilapia filets (1/4 lb. per filet)

1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used the remainder of a bottle of Russell's sauce that my dad gave us a few months ago)

1/2 of a lemon, zest it and juice it

1 large sweet potato

1 tsp. of wasabi powder

2 tsp. of balsamic vinegar

5 cloves of garlic (don't worry, we're roasting it)

1 Tbsp. of butter or buttery stuff (I like Smart Balance w/ olive oil)

2 or so Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

To taste salt, fresh black pepper, red pepper, onion and garlic powder, whatever dried herbs you'd like.

Scrub that potato under some warm water, dry it and cut it up into one-inch cubes. Don't peel them, there's great nutrients in that skin and it'll give the side dish texture. Fill a large pot about halfway up with cool water, dump the potatoes in, put the lid on and crank the heat. This will take a while to come to a boil, so you have time to roast your garlic and prepare the sauce.

I like pan roasting my garlic, because it yields more brown crackly deliciousness than oven roasting, and it takes significantly less time. Peel your garlic cloves and add them to a medium low heat skillet with a little olive oil. Let them sizzle, turn every couple minutes, they'll brown and soften, remove them to a paper towel once they look and feel right.

To prepare the sauce, put your barbeque sauce in a small bowl, zest what you can from the lemon, and juice it (be mindful of the seeds). Doctor it up with spices if you want, stir to combine.

When your potatoes come to a boil, take off the lid. At this point, you'll want to check them every couple minutes to see if they can be easily pierced with a fork. That's when they're ready to be drained. When they're drained, return them to the hot pot they came from, add the butter, and mash away. Add the balsamic vinegar, wasabi powder and roasted garlic, keep mashing. Season it with salt, pepper, red pepper and whatever else you think it needs.

This fish is a breeze. Season it with salt and pepper, put it in that skillet you had the garlic in, make sure it's well olive oiled. Sear for 3 minutes on each side, medium heat, glaze the fish with the sauce once you flip it.

To plate, spoon some of those sweet potatoes on your plate and lean the fish against it. We had some sauce left over, so I served that on the side in case extra was desired (and it was, yum yum).

Enjoy! Come back tomorrow for more fun. I believe something spicy may be in order.