Poached Tilapia with a Creamy Chickpea Sauce

Okay - when you hear cream sauce you immediately think, "unhealthy"!! This sauce is actually a delicious AND nutritious faux cream sauce. I was feeling protein deficient today, so I made myself some poached fish for lunch and to add more protein I made a sauce using chickpeas and skim milk. 

Chickpea Sauce:

1/2 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

1/4 cup skim milk

5 caperberries, sliced into 4 or 5 slices 

1 tablespoon tomato sauce (or 1/4 plum tomato)

1 teaspoon roasted garlic purée 

I heated up the chickpeas on the stove with the milk and the garlic. I then put them in my ninja (blender/food processor) and puréed until silky smooth - about 4 minutes. I added the tomato and puréed again. The tomato was purely used for coloring. After smooth I put back on the stove and added the caperberries. I kept the sauce warm while I poached my fish. The sauce is thick and creamy because of the starch in the chickpeas and is also jam-packed with protein and nutrients. 

Poached Tilapia

1 filet tilapia 

1 pot of water (or chicken stock) enough to cover the fish 

1 onion

1 carrot 

1 celery stalk   

Heat up the water and add the onion (rough chop), celery, and carrot (also roughly chopped). I simmered my pot until the vegetable were soft then removed them. Add seasoning to your water (paprika, salt, and pepper is what I used). I cooled down the water to about 160 degrees - not simmering, but steaming a little at the top. Salt your fish on both sides.  Add your fish and let cook until done all the way through. By poaching you are not only eliminating oils from cooking, but some of the oils from the fish are released too. 

If you can't find any caperberries, don't panic. These odd little berries taste exactly the same as capers, so just substitute capers instead!

Enjoy your meal without the guilt that cream sauce normally leaves you with. And know that it's quite alright to soak up any extra sauce with bread!