Time to take look at tilapia

Sometimes it's hard to take care of your health AND the environment. Nutritionists tell us to eat more fish — low in “bad” fats and high in good ones (and protein). Environmentalists tell us to leave many fish alone — either because they have been overfished (like cod) or because of the environmental problems associated with the way they are caught (like the “by-catch” of sea turtles caught when swordfish are long-lined) or pollution from questionable farming methods (tiger shrimp).

According to sustainable-seafood experts, the “good” fish to eat are often expensive fish like hook-and-line-caught cod, harpoon-caught swordfish and Pacific bay and Gulf of Maine shrimp. The other option is less expensive fish with thriving populations like anchovies, mackerel, sardines and tilapia. Of these, tilapia — a mild, widely available and affordable fish — is the best candidate for regular weekday cooking. But some of us have yet to embrace it.

That's probably because muddy, “off” flavors marred our first taste of tilapia. Like catfish (another environmentally friendly fish), tilapia absorbs water through its skin, meaning that algae blooms or muddy runoff can affect flavor. But farming has improved, and the fish are now grown in closed-system freshwater ponds that protect against such bad flavors.

While catfish has a firm texture going for it (not to mention scores of tasty Cajun preparations), tilapia can be kind of soft and, well, mushy. “An environmentalist's dream and a cook's quandary” is how Paul Johnson, author of a book on sustainable seafood called “Fish Forever” (Wiley, 2007), describes it. On the plus side, it has the kind of mild flavor that people who don't like “fishy” fish enjoy. And because tilapia is fed mostly plants, some of the domestic harvest qualifies as USDA “organic.” Like catfish and other freshwater fish, tilapia is lower in omega-3s than its seagoing cousins, but it is free of pollutants and parasites.

Good recipes are the key to embracing this sustainable, healthy, affordable fish. The new “Food Network Magazine Great Meals Fast” cookbook (Hyperion, 2011) has two simple, delicious preparations: one appears here, the other at dailyherald.com/entlife/food.

• Marialisa Calta is the author of “Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family” (Perigee, 2005). More at marialisacalta.com.