I am always on the prowl for dishes that look elaborate and taste luxe, but have a short and easy ingredient list and instructions more akin to an US Weekly than a chapter from War and Peace.
Essentially, I am on the hunt for those recipe unicorns; those dishes where you confidently serve your dinner guests (or discerning family members) without a speck of sweat on your brow, sit down relaxed with your glass of wine, and while everyone ohhs and ahhs you smile and shrug your shoulders and say
“Oh this old thing? Oh, this was nothing, really. So simple, my dahlings!”
Those types of meals are el primo. Good food does not necessitate being overly complicated or involved, and so long as you incorporate bold flavors and quality ingredients, oftentimes the most well received dishes are those that are the most straightforward. When I spied this dish (originally made with shrimp) in an issue of Fine Cooking, it had all the earmarks of what I look for in a weeknight meal: succinct ingredient list (with most already waiting for me at home), simple instructions, and nutritionally is all but angelic.
With just a bit of olive oil, panko crumbs, and feta cheese to keep things interesting, the rest is constituted of healthy vegetables, bright herbs, and fresh seafood, making it absolutely perfect for a healthy weeknight or light weekend meal. Though I am looking forward to making this same dish with shrimp (and, actually, I think it would be great with a mix of shrimp and scallops — and even some squid), I was feeling the fish at the market that day, and returned home with a big fat filet of milky white cod. Cod is super mild in flavor, and I thought it would go really nicely with the savory fennel-tomato sauce and salty bits of feta.
E A T & R E L I S H 