Ginger-Lime Tilapia with Banana Ketchup

I’ve always felt strongly that ketchup does not belong on fish (tartar sauce is totally acceptable in my book), but this banana ketchup* is a delicious complement to the ginger lime tilapia.

As we’ve said before, choose U.S.-farmed tilapia or Central American-farmed tilapia. If neither of these options are available in your local store, consult the Seafood Watch guide for your area to find a sustainably-harvested, healthy alternative whitefish.

This recipe was adapted (and moderately modified, of course) from Clean Eating Magazine.

*While most ketchups are tomato-based sauces, using bananas or some other fruit or vegetable as the base for ketchup is apparently totally legit. From thefreedictionary.com: “The source of our word ketchup may be the Malay word kchap, possibly taken into Malay from the Cantonese dialect of Chinese. Kchap, like ketchup, was a sauce, but one without tomatoes; rather, it contained fish brine, herbs, and spices. Sailors seem to have brought the sauce to Europe, where it was made with locally available ingredients such as the juice of mushrooms or walnuts. At some unknown point, when the juice of tomatoes was first used, ketchup as we know it was born. But it is important to realize that in the 18th and 19th centuries ketchup was a generic term for sauces whose only common ingredient was vinegar.”

1 cup red quinoa

2-4 tilapia fillets

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

¼ cup + 2 tbsp water

3 tbsp honey

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp olive oil

1 small white onion, finely diced

3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

½ tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Prepare quinoa according to package directions.

3. Combine lime juice, 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp honey and 1 tsp ginger in a small bowl.

4. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and put the tilapia (or alternative sustainable whitefish) in the dish. Spoon the lime juice marinade over the tilapia.

5. Bake fish for 12-15 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily.

6. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.

7. Add onion and ginger. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

8. Add bananas, ¼ cup water, 1 tbsp honey, white balsamic vinegar and allspice to the saucepan.

9. Bring the ketchup to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low and let the ketchup simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

10. Serve tilapia on top of quinoa and top with banana ketchup.

Note: Despite its deliciousness, the banana ketchup was ugly so we took the photo before we added it to the plate.