Orange Honey Tilapia

Wow! Has it really been a month since I've cooked something in the crock pot? Not quite (but almost)...but I've only been cooking things I've already made and blogged about. No need to bore you with those (although I do keep you updated with that on my Facebook page). But last night, I cooked another one of Stephanie O'Dea's fantastic fish recipes, the Orange Honey Tilapia. Yes, you can cook fish in the crock pot!

Let me start by saying that this goes high on the list due to the minimal ingredients and easy prep.

Yes, seriously it's just the fish plus 3 ingredients! I used 3 pieces of tilapia (my husband doesn't really "do" leftovers so no need to cook the 4th piece if no one was going to eat it), and didn't measure the balsamic vinegar or honey but just drizzled it over the fish. I used all of the mandarin oranges (drained off all the juice) over 3 pieces of fish. Here's what it looks like in the packet:

Stephanie's recipe shows putting all the fish in one big foil pouch. I chose to individually wrap each one, which she also indicated was just fine. I put all 3 pieces in my 4qt crock pot.

And this is when I started to think "I need a bigger crock pot!" The tilapia pieces are long so they barely fit in my crock pot (you might recall that my crock pot has three different sized crocks, so they are basically the same width but get deeper as the bowls get bigger). I think I need to invest in a crock pot that is shallower but wider. I have my eyes on one: West Bend 84915 5-Quart Oblong-Shaped Slow Cooker with Tote. (Bonus is that it comes with a tote for taking crock pot yumminess to go!) Anyone have this one? Would you recommend it?

So anyway...I cooked it on high for just under 2.5 hours and voila!

I was worried that the fish would be dry, but as you might be able to tell from the picture, there is a lot of "juice"/wetness/moisture that accumulated in the packet. This sort of made the fish poach and it was very tender.

We had this with veggies and rice and it was a very good meal. (Yes, there is a bite missing from the fish - I started eating before remembering to take a picture.) Couple comments that my husband and I agreed on:

• We wanted a little more flavor. So...maybe next time I won't be so scared with the balsamic or honey and add a little more (hubby said he didn't even know either of those two ingredients were used). 
• This would probably also be great with other fruits - we're thinking pineapple and mango next time. Although he kept reiterating that he thought strawberries would be good with the mandarin oranges. Hmm...I'm not convinced of that one but I'm willing to give it a try. Maybe I'll make multiple packets each with different kinds of fruit. (If you make this with other fruits, post a comment and let me know what you thought of it!)
• This was a great, light, summer meal.

I'm again shown that you can cook fish in the crock pot! If you like salmon, you should also try the Salmon with Dry Rub that I've made (probably 3 times), also from Stephanie O'Dea. The aroma from that one is amazing!

What other fish recipes have you tried? I'd love to try more!