Thursday, September 10, 2009

Fish en papillote with pineapple salsa

This went with the Absolut Bananas martinis I made from Dale DeGroff's great cocktail compendium (can't remember the name, but I'll put in a link asap). It was WAY better than I thought it would be, especially since it's so healthy. And the best part is you can prepare it ahead of time and just pop it in the oven when you're ready for dinner. Enjoy!

3 tilapia fillets, about 1" high at thickest portion (about a pound; use any firm, mild, white-fleshed fish and adjust amounts accordingly)
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/4" strips
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped roughly
3 tsp. olive oil
about 15 basil leaves
salt and pepper
garlic powder

Salsa:
1/2 c. fresh pineapple, diced
1/2 c. cucumber, seeded and diced
1/4 c. tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 c. red onion, minced
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
about 1" off the end of a fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (or more if you like it spicier)
juice from 1 lime
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Tear off 3 squares of parchment from your roll (or use aluminum foil) and spray with cooking spray. Layer zucchini strips, then tomatoes, then a piece of fish on each square and drizzle each piece of fish with 1 tsp. olive oil. The oil really does add a lot of flavor even though there's such a small amount, so don't skip this step. Sprinkle each piece of fish with salt, pepper and garlic powder, and then arrange the basil leaves on top. Fold one end of the parchment over to cover the fish and crimp the edges together. Then fold each side in and crimp together to seal. It's okay if the crimping doesn't stay tight; if you fold the edges over several times, it will stay tight enough for the fish to steam, which is what you want.


Put the packets of fish on a cookie sheet and place in the oven (or refrigerate them till you're ready to cook them). While they're cooking, make the salsa by mixing all of the ingredients together in a nonreactive (i.e. glass or ceramic) bowl. If you have them, throw in a handful of black beans for textural and flavor contrast. They are great in this recipe, but it's probably not worth opening the can just for a small amount, so you decide.

The fish takes about 20 minutes to cook. To serve, place each packet on a plate and mound some salsa alongside.

If you want to get really fancy, you can cut the parchment in all kinds of shapes. I've seen hearts for a romantic dinner or even individual fishes if you're having a small dinner party and want to impress your friends. You can get really creative here and still have the fish taste terrific, so go to town.

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