Fish is probably my favorite food. It’s healthy and light, and it is pretty much a blank canvass to which you can add layers of flavor and texture. My son has a shellfish allergy, so I reserve shellfish dinners for at home date nights. But, all of my kids will eat most fish fillets, and as a fish lover, this makes me super happy. My go-to fish supper is super easy, made up of pantry staples plus whatever mild white fish is on sale. I often use flounder, sole, ocean perch, grouper, & snapper. Once the fish is in the oven, I make some whole wheat couscous and string beans with toasted pine nuts or a simple arugula and white bean salad. And, dinner is done!
Roasted Fish with tomatoes and olives:
What You’ll Need:
- White fish fillets (1.5 lbs–4 nice sized fillets– will serve 4 adults)
- Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 large shallot, diced
- 1/2 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs
- Pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/2 cup of kalamata olives
- 4 pats of butter
- 1 cup of chicken broth or white wine
- Olive oil
- Parsley
What to do:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- While oven heats up, prepare fish. Drizzle olive oil all over the bottom of a baking dish. Place fillets in pan, season top of fillets with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
- On top of each fillet place: a bit of the lemon zest, a bit of diced shallots, a sprinkle of breadcrumbs, a few tomato halves, a few kalamata olives, a pat of butter, and finally pour the wine or broth over the entire dish (if it seems like you need more liquid, use more)
- Bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets.
- Take it out the oven and squeeze the lemon on top of the fillets just before serving. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.
* While the fish is cooking, I like to make whole wheat couscous which is available at most grocery stores. It cooks almost instantly, it’s a whole grain, and it absorbs all of the delicious sauce from the fish. As a side dish, I often make simple sauteed green beans with toasted pine nuts (recipe below).
Sauteed string beans with pine nuts:
What you’ll need:
- 1 lb of green beans, trimmed
- Olive oil
- red pepper flakes
- 1/3 a cup of pine nuts
- 2 teaspoons of butter
- salt & pepper
What to do:
- Heat about 1/3 a cup of olive oil up in a large sautee pan
- Once hot, add red pepper flakes, then add trimmed green beans
- Sautee until just becoming tender (about 3 minutes)
- Add pine nuts and butter, cook for 2 more minutes
- Season to taste with salt and pepper
