You’d think I would know by now to research potential substitutions online before employing them, but the mealtime scramble always seems to win out over logic.
Though I wanted to recreate a Food Network recipe for tilapia with escarole and lemon pepper oil, I ended up substituting both of the main ingredients. Basa stepped in for tilapia, and romaine lettuce for escarole. I found out later that escarole is in the chicory family, greens that are heartier and stand up to cooking better than others. As a result, the romaine came out limp and way overcooked. Thankfully, the brown and crispy potatoes and perfectly steamed fish redeemed the dish as a whole. We found the lemon pepper oil a tad too strong for our taste (even after cutting down the quantity of lemon), and borderline unnecessary.
Basa with Greens and Lemon Pepper Oil
We loved the one-pot nature of this recipe, and now that I’ve learned what not to substitute, perhaps we will make this again in the future with the proper ingredients.
Only Here for the Food 
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