First Days of Spring and Fish Casseroles

Dear Tricia, On this first day of spring, I'm going to experiment in my kitchen with fish. I have tilapia, salmon, tuna, and cod. I'd like to do some sort of casserole....because I'm a girl, I'd like it to be mildly healthy. Suggestions?

Yes.  My first suggestion is to not make a casserole.  I know, I know... I pimp out old school delights like lil' smokies and meatballs with ketchup and grape jelly like there's no tomorrow, but I have some reservations about telling you to throw a bunch of fish and random leftovers in a casserole dish and call it dinner: it makes no sense.  I LOVE seafood, and I firmly believe it should be eaten with a tad more dignity than that.  (Not that you can't whip up a batch of your grandmother's tuna noodle casserole and enjoy it with gusto- but you're not writing me about tuna noodle casserole.  And I probably can't compete with her recipe.)  I just don't think you should diss the fish.  No one likes a fish disser.

I can however, tell you how to make a really easy fish recipe in a casserole dish.  It's no muss, no fuss, and super healthy.

Any of those delightful fishies in your fridge will work for this and measurements are for 1 filet.  So if you want to cook 4 filets, multiply the recipe by 4:

Preheat your oven to 400.

Have the following stuff ready:

Half a shallot
5 cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half and ready, and mix them with 2 teaspoons of capers.*
1/8 cup vegetable or chicken stock; or white wine

Put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the casserole dish.  You don't need to spread it out to cover the whole pan.  Just pour it in the middle.

Mince the shallot.  (Mince means cut it really small.  I don't want to insult your knowledge, but some people just don't know.)  Spread it in out in the olive oil in the shape of the filet of fish you're using.

Then season the fish with salt and pepper.  I don't like to tell you how much because some people like to use a lot of salt, and some people like to go heavy on the pepper.  Use however much you like.

Put the fish, seasoned side down, on the shallots.  The top it with the tomatoes and capers. Pour about another teaspoon of olive oil on top of the fish/tomato/shallot delightfulness.

Pour in the white wine or stock.  Bake this for about 12 minutes (depending on how old your oven is, or how done you like your fish.  Tilapia is thinner, so it'll probably be done in less than 10 minutes.)

Squeeze a wedge of lemon over it and it's done.  You can also chop up some fresh herbs and sprinkle them on top for a little color and extra bright flavor.  This can be eaten by itself, or on top of a bed of cooked spaghetti squash.  Cooking spaghetti squash is super easy: you just poke a bunch of holes in it and stick it in the oven for an hour.  (Some people microwave it because it's faster.  I like to put my oven to work.)  Then you cut it open, scrape out the seeds, and run a fork over the strands of squash to loosen them.  It's like fake pasta.  Seriously, I haven't eaten pasta in almost 2 years because spaghetti squash is such a decent, low carb, low calorie substitute.  5 ounces has something like 40 calories.  It's one of those foods where you're pretty much burning more calories by chewing it than you are actually digesting.  Move over celery, you've just been replaced!

So that's your quick and easy fish in a casserole dish.  Fish in a dish.  I'm suddenly feeling very Dr. Seuss-like.   It's not a traditional casserole, but it's hella fast and it only requires 5 ingredients.  In fact, when you look up the definition of the word, all a casserole is is "food cooked in a casserole dish."  So I guess I've done my job here.  And I guarantee it'll impress the gentlemen more than tuna noodle.   (Hey, I don't make the rules, I just pass them along to you, my dear readers.)

On a side note, there are some big things happening with the blog in the next week.  Keep checking back for some sweet surprises!

*Capers are something I used to hate. They're a floral bud from bushes in the Mediterranean that are pickled.  They can be a little salty and sour, but I like them with fish.  You can sub these out with chopped black or green olives, or maybe go sweet with some golden raisins.  There's no rules here- have a martini and start playing around with it.

When Vegetables Attack!

Dear Tricia, I need to find a way to use up everything when I buy a lot of veggies.

I got this question on my Facebook fan page (thanks, Erin) when I opened up a little conversation about vegetables. And its a good one, because no one likes to throw food away, unless you're a waster... and no one likes a waster. On a side note, I can totally relate to this because when I lived in San Francisco, I used to go the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market every Saturday and come home with a bag full of random produce that I had no intention of cooking within a week. It all just looked too pretty not to buy. Some people splurge on shoes, I splurge on pretty vegetables.
When I need to use up random veggies, (which never happens anymore, because feeding my husband is like feeding a 14 year old, garbage disposal stomach of a boy) I always make them into an easy enchilada casserole. I've written about this before too, when I was writing about how to eat your feelings without getting cellulite, but I'm happy to share it again. You'll need said excess veggies, a package of corn tortillas, two cans of enchilada sauce, a can of refried beans, and shredded cheddar cheese. (I like to use non fat for everything, but you can use whatever you want.)
To start off with, cut up your veggies into bite sized pieces. Steaming them without any gadgets is easy; just get a saute pan really hot (and seriously, wait until its really hot or this trick won't work), throw the veggies in there, pour in 1/2 cup of water and put a lid on it. When the water is completely evaporated, your veggies will be just about done. You don't want to crowd the pan and dump like 2 pounds of veggies in there because that's too much to cook at once. So do it in batches... just enough veggies to cover the bottom of the pan. When you're done, put all of your veggies together in a bowl.
Next, get a casserole dish ready. Put two tortillas in the bottom. Using a spatula or a knife, spread a healthy layer of refried beans on the tortillas. Then put a layer of vegetables on top. Pour about a 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce on the veggies. Repeat this until you've filled up the dish. You should use up the entire can of enchilada sauce. Once you've finished, put two last tortillas on top and pour the other can of sauce on them. Top it with a layer of shredded cheese and throw that sucker in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. When its melted and gooey, its ready, and you can eat your feelings, not get cellulite, and use up your vegetables. Congratulations, you just killed 3 birds with one stone.
Bird murderer.