Lemon Caper Tilapia Packets: Freezer Friendly

As a part of my recent freezer friendly adventures, I decided to try a fish dish.  We had these this week and their delicate and moist deliciousness did not disappoint.  I served these with a side of steamed cabbage for a healthy, light weeknight supper.  And the best part is the only preparation I had on a busy, ok. let's be honest, tired night, was to pop the packets on a sheet tray and bake.

Lemon Caper Tilapia Packets - from this great recipe here

1 lb tilapia, fresh or frozen (I used pre-frozen)
1 cup tomatoes, diced (I used cherry tomatoes)
1 tablespoon capers (funny story - see below)
1 medium garlic clove, minced (I used a spoonful of preminced garlic)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium lemon, juiced
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Gallon sized freezer safe bag

Directions

Gather ingredients.  One pound tilapia is about 4 tilapia filets.  Halve the tomatoes.  1 cup ended up being about half of a container you buy in the grocery store.  And a helpful hint for the lemon is to go ahead and quarter the lemon so you can put equal amounts of juice on each fish easily. Yay!  *Notice you see no capers here - I totally forgot I bought them and was bummed I didn't have them! I found them hiding in the cabinet a few weeks later and when it was time to bake I opened the packets, popped in a few capers, and resealed to bake.  Wowzers. Mommy brain for sure!!

I used heavy duty foil to cut down on the freezer burn and it worked!  Distribute one tilapia per square.  Lift up the edges to make a "boat" so the ingredients don't fall out.

Evenly distribute remaining ingredients... capers too if you remember you have them ;)

Roll foil edges tightly together to form a packet.  Place in a freezer safe gallon bag.  Freeze.

Directions for bag: Thaw. Bake at 375 for 15 - 20 minutes or until fish is firm.

 And this is what you get when you finish baking these babies.  It was perfectly done at 17 minutes.  And I still have 2 more of these left in my freezer for future use!!

Yum. Yum. Yum.
Delicate and delicious.

The Verdict These have such a great, mild flavor and really punched up boring fish.  I never know how to cook it and in return don't fix it very often.  We can all agree that the heart healthy and weight benefits of this lighter dish is well worth the effort.  Well let me tell you - there was virtually no effort here.  It literally took me 10 minutes max from start to finish, including preparing the ingredients.  Next time, I'll probably add a little more lemon juice to punch up the lemon flavor.  But otherwise, I can't complain how convenient it was to have these ready on a weeknight! Use the extra time you saved making this speedy dish to do something special - just for you!