Crock Pot Tilapia with Mandarin Oranges

As much as he knows it's good for him, my husband just can't get excited when he sees fish on the menu.  And he's pretty lucky to have a wife that is very good at cooking fish.  It's always flaky, moist, and never fishy.

After several days of not making this, I finally cornered him on Sunday night.  "We might as well try it," I told him.  "You're only delaying the inevitable."  

Add to that this recipe was supposed to be easy and have zero clean-up.  "This recipe won't have any dishes for us to wash!  It's not going to be a mess at all!" I proudly declared.

Apparently those exact words are similar to saying "Good luck" in the theater instead of "Break a Leg."

I'll explain the messy disaster that followed after the Ingredients and Directions.

INGREDIENTS

4 tilapia filets (frozen is just fine)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 (10-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
aluminum foil
salt and pepper to taste at the table



DIRECTIONS

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Lay a length of foil on your countertop and place the fish directly in the middle. Dribble balsamic vinegar and honey over the top of each fillet, and place a handful of drained mandarin oranges on top (my kids like to drink the juice!).

Fold over foil and crimp the edges to form a packet. Put the foil packet into your slow cooker, and put the lid on (if you'd prefer to have one fish fillet per packet for serving, divide the sauce and the oranges). Cook on high for two hours, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. If your fish was frozen, it may take another 30 minutes or so, but you should still check it after two hours. Season to taste with some salt and pepper at the table.

VERDICT

#1 (And most important)- This recipe is horrible.  It is DRY, TASTLESS, and does NOT stay neatly in the tinfoil as advertised.

#2  The mess of the juices leaking out of the tinfoil and then burning in the crockpot is not something easily cleaned.  It takes soaking, a full bottle of Dawn, and more elbow grease than I am capable after a long weekend.

#3 Those 90-second microwave rice packets don't do well if you forget to vent them.  Cook them for 86 seconds, fine.  But 87 seconds?  BOOM!  Rice EVERYWHERE.

#4 Don't ever say "this is a no-mess meal!" out loud.


#5 Don't let husband complain about fish.  Self-fulfilling prophecy?