Something’s Fishy…..

Last night, I made dinner for the architect. Actually, I do that most nights. I (almost always) love cooking. It’s that pesky cleaning up later that I hate.

BUT – back to the subject at hand. I do like to cook. And although I don’t LIKE getting groceries, I prefer that I do it (and not just because that way it does actually get done in a timely fashion – my timeliness, of course). I plan the week’s menu and buy the groceries that I’ll need. I usually make at least 4 servings for dinner, so that I can have the leftovers for lunch the next day.  The downside to this method, if you’re the architect anyway, is that the meals are 100% things that I like, but that rarely take into consideration his preferences.  Example: I rarely make fish and often use squash. 

That’s not to say that I don’t consider him when planning menus. I don’t cook with cauliflower. Or beets. And I even planted radishes last year for him (I really don’t like radishes). 

So – every once in a while I grit my teeth, plug my nose, and cook some fish. I usually pick a pretty mild whitefish (such as tilapia, or sole, or whatever is on sale). I’ve only cooked salmon twice (it’s so…fishy). But once a month, whether we need it or not, we have fish.

Last night I apparently hit the jackpot. The fish was excellent, and the architect endorsed it thusly, “I think I’m going to go out on a limb and declare this the best meal you’ve ever cooked for us. Ever.”

I even liked it – and I’m notoriously hard to please when it comes to fish. Also? It was easy.

So – my delicious fish recipe (as in the recipe I used – I did not create this recipe).

Sole with lemon caper sauce

  • 1 TB olive oil
  • 1 lb of sole (or other white fish)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 TB butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 c vegetable broth
  • 2 TB capers, drained, rinsed & minced
  • 4 TB lemon juice + zest from 1 lemon
  • 2 TB fresh parsley, chopped
  • Fresh grated parmesan cheese
  1. Heat the olive oil in a med. saute pan. Salt & pepper the fish, and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily. (Be careful to not cook it too hot or it might fall apart a little. Not that I’d know.)
  2. Remove the fish from the pan & keep in foil until you’re ready to use. 
  3. Melt butter in same pan and add garlic. Saute until brown (about 1 minute). Scrape the sides to get all the crusty fish pieces up. 
  4. Add the broth & bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid reduces by half (about 5 minute). 
  5. Add the capers, lemon juice & lemon zest. Cook for about 2-3 more minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. 
  6. Stir in parsley. Pour over fish. Sprinkle with grated parmesan. Serve.
From start to finish, including prep, it took about 20 minutes.  I served it with some roasted potatoes that I cooked in a little lemon juice & sprinkled with more parmesan.
When I ran it through my recipe calculator (without the potato side), It said that if the above recipe was 2 servings, each serving had 303 calories and about 15 grams of fat. It didn’t taste that fatty to me, but I’m sure that the 2 TB of fat account for that.  Other exciting nutritional information: 
  • 74 mg potassium
  • 34 g protein
  • 21% Vit A
  • 23% Vit C
  • 6% Vit E
  • 9% Calcium
  • 11% Iron
So – delicious, and (relatively) nutritious.  Although I was plenty full from my fish & potato (and martini), the architect was still hungry. Fortunately, he didn’t starve to death, but instead ate the extra elk burger that was in the fridge. 
Does anyone else have any ridiculously easy yet tasty fish recipes for me to try?  I’d like to get to fish 2x a month, and eventually once a week (and chicken once a week), so that we’re getting our 2 meaty meals each week from different sources. (I love chicken, but I think I may be running out of ways to cook it.)
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