Call it a happy convergence of a trusty, traditional kitchen appliance with a relatively new taste trend: using an electric skillet to cook tilapia. With thermostat-controlled temperature electric skillets offer the benefit of more consistent, energy-efficient cooking, without heating up your kitchen. If the skillet has a removable dish, you can even serve directly from it at your table or buffet.

Create a coating for your tilapia fillets. Use store-bought bread crumbs and enhance them with some Parmesan cheese. Or smash up some corn flakes or stuffing cubes and add some garlic powder. For a tasty surprise, shave some thin potato strips with a vegetable peeler or spiralizer and kick up the potato flavor with a little onion powder.

Set up three small, oval dishes: one for flour, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, one for several beaten eggs and one for your coating. Dip each tilapia fillet in the flour, then in the egg and then the coating. Place the fillets on a dish and spray them with nonfat cooking spray to give extra staying power to the coating.

Set your electric skillet to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray the skillet with some nonfat cooking spray. If your skillet has a nonstick finish, you can cook with little to no vegetable oil or butter, but if you melt some butter in the skillet, the tilapia will soak it up nicely and gain more flavor.

Place the fillets on the electric skillet and cook them for five minutes. Flip them over and cook for another five minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the tilapia flakes easily with a fork. Serve the fillets with lemon wedges, if you like.