Panko-Crusted Tilapia with Wild Rice

The fish starts by being marinated in a mixture of egg whites (shown here) and seasonings.

Seasoning I used: 1 part low-sodium soy sauce 1 part balsamic vinegar and a good squirt of wasabi mustard.

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While the fish marinates, I made some wild rice (from TJs)

Ingredients
1/2 cup wild rice
1 small shallot, chopped
6 rehydrated shitake mushrooms (stems removed), chopped
1 cup liquid that the mushrooms had rehydrated in.

Subs: any mushrooms (though shitake have a lot of flavor) and any stock will do.

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As the liquid is being brought to a boil in a small sauce pan, sautee the shallot and mushrooms until the shallots are translucent.
Drop in the rice once liquid is brought to a boil and simmer, adding water as needed (I added 1/2 cup)

While the rice cooks, cover the bottom of a flat plate with panko crumbs and black sesame seeds (use any sort of crushed nut/seed you like or omit altogether) and dredge each piece of fish in it until coated.

Note: I wound up having to place some of the panko mixture on the fish by hand. It still held on in the pan though!

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Spray a non-stick pan with Pam and heat thoroughly. Turn the heat down to medium and drop the Panko covered fish. Be patient, don't disturb the fish too much! It should only take about 2 minutes or less per side. While the first side cooks, add some panko/seed mixture to the tops of the fish if dredging didn't work that well.

Make sure the fish is cooked through until it's a nice flaky white in the middle like you see here -->

Bon Apetit!

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