The tomato is native to South, Central, and southern North America from Mexico to Peru and arrived to Europe with the Spaniards in the 16th century. Soon, people living around the Mediterranean began drying tomatoes on their tile roofs to preserve them. By doing this, they could enjoy tomatoes even during the winter when no fresh tomatoes could be produced. Today, we can find fresh tomatoes in the grocery store year round, but the sun-dried tomato will not be abandoned since it such a supreme delicacy in its own right. Fresh tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes are not rivals; they compliment each other perfectly.

INGREDIENTS

• Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (roughly 3 tablespoons when chopped)
• Kalamata olives (roughly 2 tablespoons when pitted and chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of capers
• 2 tilapia fillets
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Drain and chop the tomatoes.
3. Pit and chop the kalamata olives.
4. Drain the capers.
5. Stir together chopped sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. Place the tilapia fillets side by side in a baking dish.
7. Drizzle lemon juice and oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes over the fish.
8. Bake in the preheated oven until you can easily flake the fish using a fork. This will normally take around 10-15 minutes.
9. Remove the fish from the oven and spread the sun-dried tomato mixture over the fillets. Buon appetito!