Every semester, students in the Lethbridge College Culinary program showcase their skills using the region’s 
best locally-grown or produced food at various lunches, dinners and celebrations. From Broek Pork to Broxburn tomatoes to produce and eggs from Galimax Trading (whose part-owner, Cornelius Mans, is a 2013 Business Administration grad of the college), a foodie doesn’t have to look far to find outstanding ingredients that are being grown, raised or produced close to home. For this recipe, the college’s chefs initially considered a 100-mile diet offering, but realized with the college’s Aquaculture Centre of Excellence raising tilapia in the college’s backyard (quite literally), a 100-metre recipe could be possible. The mix of citrus and pistachio provide great flavour to this mild fish.
NUT AND CITRUS TILAPIA (FOUR PORTIONS)
250 mL chopped pistachios
125 mL Panko crumbs
30 mL melted butter
1 each zested and juiced lemon, lime and orange
to taste salt and pepper
30 mL canola oil
4 tilapia fillets
1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F degrees.
2. Combine: pistachios, Panko, butter, lemon, lime and orange in a mixing bowl. Stir and set aside.
3. In a sauté pan, add the oil and the tilapia. Cook until golden brown on one side.
4. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the fish with the seared side up.
5. Spoon the nut mixture on top of the fish.
6. Put into preheated oven for five to seven minutes until the fish is cooked.
7. Enjoy with your Provençale sauce and quinoa salad.
SAUCE PROVENÇALE (Five cups)
2 medium finely chopped onions
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
50 mL olive oil
10 whole peeled, seeded and diced tomatoes
5 mL tomato paste
250 mL finely chopped black olives
15 mL chopped fresh basil
to taste salt and pepper
1. Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil.
2. Add the diced tomato and the tomato paste. Stir well and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the chopped olives, season, and cook until thick.
4. Add fresh basil. Adjust the seasoning.
5. Enjoy.
HOT VEGETABLE AND QUINOA SALAD (Serves four)
275 g quinoa
750 mL chicken stock
1 mL salt
*
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 green bell pepper, small dice
125 mL scallion, chopped fine
1 whole zucchini, small dice
125 mL dried apricots chopped fine
30 mL olive oil
30 mL balsamic vinegar
1 fresh lemon, zested and juiced
750 mL fresh spinach or arugula
To taste salt and pepper
1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in cold water. Drain.
2. Combine with the chicken stock and salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer slowly until the grain is cooked, about 15 minutes.
3. Spread the cooked grain in a shallow pan to cool.
4. In a pan sauté bell peppers, zucchini.
5. Add apricots, scallions, spinach, lemon juice, zest and vinegar.
6. Add quinoa and warm.
7. Add salt to taste.
To sample some of the delicious creations from student chefs at Lethbridge College, book a table in the Garden Court Dining Room by calling 403.320.3230. And to see a video of this recipe being prepared by Chef Stephen Klassen (Culinary 2001), go to widerhorizons.ca.
