Italian Style Baked White Fish with Flavorful Rice

Posted on May 12, 2010 by kitchenbelle

My husband requested some white fish for dinner and as always, I am happy to oblige his cravings! Baked white fish is one of my favorite meals so I looked forward to making this delicious weeknight dinner.

The basis of this fish recipe is something my mom has been making for years. It’s a favorite dinner of hers and mine and whenever dinner ended up just being the two of us, this is what she would make. I believe it is something my grandmother used to “throw” together when my mom was young. It is almost too simple to call a recipe, but I think it is definitely worth sharing. This is actually the first time I have made it and it came out almost as good as when my mom makes it! 

I decided to serve the fish with rice and roasted broccoli for a satisfying, colorful, healthy and complete meal.  Rather than plain old rice, I pumped up the flavor and nutrients by caramelizing some shallots and onions along with some fresh garlic and then fluffed it in to the cooked rice. (This is explained below.)   

Enjoy!

Italian Style Baked White Fish with Flavorful Rice:

  • 2 white fish filets, approx. 3/4 lb. each
  • 2.5 cups of water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup long grain brown rice, rinsed under running water
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • 1  (14.5) ounce can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano (I like using Del Monte brand)
  • 2 fresh scallions (green onions), chopped

Bring the water or broth to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes (or according to package directions).

Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small saute pan over low heat. Add the onion, shallot, and garlic and cook over very low heat.  (You can leave this mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, the entire time the rice is cooking. Doing so will really sweeten the onions and shallots bringing out their wonderful flavors.)

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a small mixing bowl combine Italian breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and fresh chives. Stir well. Rinse fish with cold water and pat until completely dry. Place fish in a glass baking dish.  Spread a thick layer of crumbs over the fish and pat them down.  Spoon the diced tomatoes over the fish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake fish uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until fish is done.  (How long you cook the fish will depend upon the thickness of the filet.) 

When the rice is done, fluff with a fork and use a wooden spoon to stir the onion mixture into the rice.  Stir in chopped scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve fish with rice.

Here I spread a thick layer of breadcrumbs over the fish.

Here I spooned the diced tomatoes over the breadcrumbs.

A Kitchenbelle.com original!

Filed under: chives, fish, Main Dish, rice, Side, tomato | 11 Comments »

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Caponata

Posted on June 16, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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When the weather is hot and you don’t have central air conditioning, using the oven and the stove are not very appealing.  Even baking something for just a few minutes can turn the kitchen into a sauna.  That is when an outdoor grill can be really handy.  Some people reserve the grill for hot dogs and hamburgers on the weekends only, but there is no reason not to fire up the grill for a quick and healthy weeknight supper.

Unfortunately, the problem of warm weather has not been an issue in Boston.  The last couple of days have been downright cold.  For this dish I stayed in my comfortably warm kitchen and used our grill pan in place of the outdoor grill.  (The grill pan works really well for grilling pretty much everything.)   

Whether prepared indoors or outdoors, this dish is wonderful.  The flavorful chunky vegetables paired so nicely with the firm swordfish steaks.  For not using very many spices, the flavor factor of the caponata was off the charts.   Each bite contained different vegetables—you may get a piece of eggplant and a caper in one bite and then a tomato and olive in the next.  This meal was really satisfying and balanced.  And it is so simple to make!  The caponata is so versatile it could be served on its own as a side or with crackers as an appetizer. 

Grilled Swordfish with Grilled Caponata:

Caponata

  • 1 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise
  • 1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into rings
  • 4-6 plum or roma tomatoes, halved
  • Olive oil, for brushing vegetables, plus 1/2 cup
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup green olives, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (optional)
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons honey

Heat grill on high.  Brush all vegetables with olive oil (or spray with cooking spray) and season with salt and pepper. Grill both sides of the eggplant slices until cooked through, about 8 minutes per side.  Grill both sides of the onion slices until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.  Grill the tomatoes (seed side down) until charred and soft, about 3 minutes.  Remove all vegetables from heat and cut into 1/2 inch chunks.  Put all vegetables into a bowl.  Add the olives, capers, and pine nuts to the bowl of vegetables and use a wooden spoon to toss to combine. 

In a small bowl combine the vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and honey.  Season with salt and pepper.  Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup of olive oil.*  Pour this dressing over vegetables and toss so that all are well-coated with dressing.  Let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.

Swordfish

  • 2-4 swordfish steaks
  • olive oil or cooking spray
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Caponata (see recipe above)

Heat grill to high.  Brush both sides of swordfish steaks with olive oil or coat with cooking spray.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook swordfish steaks until done, about 4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness.  Remove from grill and top with grilled caponata. 

j

*I actually didn’t use the 1/2 cup olive oil in the dressing and it was just fine without it.

Adapted from recipe by Bobby Flay on Foodnetwork.com.

Filed under: Appetizer, eggplant, fish, gluten free, Main Dish, olives, pine nuts, Side, tomato | 4 Comments »

Cajun-Baked Tilapia

Posted on May 15, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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 As I mentioned, my husband has been craving fish.  This recipe called for catfish, which I thought would be a nice change since we usually eat cod and salmon.   Unfortunately, my grocery store did not have any fresh catfish, however, they did have tilapia fillets.  I think tilapia was the perfect substitute!  They are firm white fillets that are mild in flavor.   This is a nice and easy weeknight meal!  I served this fish with Polenta Stuffed Poblano Peppers. 

Some recipe notes:

  • I decreased the original recipe intended for 8 fillets to 2 fillets.  However it was still super spicy and a bit on the salty side.  I have adjusted the measurements below so that hopefully you won’t have the same problem.   I forgot how spicy Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning is!
  • I substituted olive oil spray for the 1/4 of melted butter called for in the recipe.  You could boost the flavor factor by using the butter, however, as a general rule our weeknight suppers don’t contain butter.  If I were to make this for guests that would be a different story!
  • I found this recipe on myrecipes.com.  I am obsessed with this site!!!  It is a compilation of recipes from Real Simple, Southern Living, Cooking Light and many many more.  The kinds of recipes cover a wide scope of difficulty and ingredients and there are great photos and reviews.  You can find recipes for just about any ingredient or occasion. You must check it out!

Cajun-Baked Tilapia:

  • 1  cup cornmeal
  • 1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/2  tablespoon  pepper
  • 2 tilapia or catfish fillets
  • 1/2 tablespoon  Cajun seasoning (I used Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning —super spicy!)
  • a drizzle of olive oil or olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Combine first 3 ingredients. Dredge the fillets in cornmeal mixture; place fillets, skin sides down, on a greased baking sheet.

Sprinkle cajun seasoning over fillets.  Spray fillets with olive oil spray.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until golden and fish flakes with a fork.

Adapted from recipe found here on myrecipes.com!

Filed under: fish, Main Dish | 4 Comments »

Teriyaki Seared Scallops

Posted on April 27, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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I wanted to make a protein to accompany our soba noodle salad.  We had some frozen scallops in the freezer (<GASP>—frozen scallops?!)  Yes, Trader Joe’s sells bags of frozen scallops and I keep them on hand for quick weeknight suppers.  Though they don’t compare to fresh scallops, I think they are quite good!

So I cooked them on our grill pan in this teriyaki glaze.   They were the perfect addition to our noodles!

Teriyaki Seared Scallops:

  • 1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce
  • 3  tablespoons  dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2  tablespoons  rice wine vinegar
  • 1  tablespoon  minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
  • 2  garlic cloves, minced
  • 12  sea scallops
  • scallions, sliced, for garnish

Heat grill pan.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Rinse scallops then pat them dry. 

Place scallops on grill pan.  Carefully brush tops of scallops with half of glaze.  After a few minutes flip scallops and carefully brush exposed sides with remaining glaze.   Cook 1 minute or until scallops are done.  Top with sliced scallions.

Adapted from Cooking Light.

Filed under: fish | 3 Comments »

Fish Stew

Posted on March 4, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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“I would even bring this in for lunch tomorrow.” 

There it is, folks, in the words of my husband who 98% of the time prefers a plain old deli sandwich to leftovers for lunch.  That’s how much he (we) enjoyed this!

This stew has just about all of the positive qualities you would seek in a weeknight supper. 

  1. Really  easy
  2. Really quick (easy doesn’t always = quick)
  3. Really healthy
  4. Really low in calories (healthy doesn’t always = low cal)
  5. Really fresh
  6. Really delicious

(Wow–that is a lot of reallys. )

Also, I think what we really (uh-oh, there is another one) liked about this dish is that it strays from how we typically eat fish.  In the spirit of Lent I have had my eye out for some good fish recipes, and since we eat a fair amount of baked fish I wanted to try something a little different.  This recipe hit the mark.  It is flavorful, light, and has a pleasantly surprising kick to it. 

A couple of recipe notes: In our freezer I had some corn shaved from the cob that had  just been waiting for a purpose.  What a special touch of flavor and freshness it added to this meal!  If you happen to have some fresh corn (or other veggies for that matter–mushrooms or peas would work well) toss them in!  Secondly, I replaced the water (originally called for in the recipe) with chicken broth.  Though it adds a few more calories and a tad of sodium, in my opinion the flavor boost is definitely worth it.

I served this with grilled slices of bread for dipping.  Really YUM.

Fish Stew:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 large leek (or 2 celery stalks), chopped
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1.5 cups corn
  • 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
  • 1  14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, not drained
  • 2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth
  • 1 pound white fish of your choice, cut into chunks (I used dover sole–any white fish would work well)
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • cayenne pepper and kosher salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a dutch oven (I used my Le Creuset) over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Add leek (or celery) and chili powder.  Cook until tender.

Stir in the worcestershire sauce, diced tomatoes (with juice), 2 cups of broth and cook for about 10 minutes.  Add the corn and fish.  Cook for 3 minutes or until the fish is done.

Season with salt and cayenne until you’ve reached your desired flavor.  Stir in parsley.

Adapted from Easy Fish Stew from Cooking Light found here on Recipezaar.

Filed under: corn, fish, Main Dish, soup | 2 Comments »

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