Monday, June 16, 2008

Chili-cilantro flounder and peas with pesto and pistachios


This past Friday I noticed a new stand in the Greenmarket: Pura Vida Fishery. I'm not sure if they're new at the market, or I just hadn't noticed them before, but their catch looked beautiful, and their prices were reasonable.

The fishmonger recommended the flounder, and I started recipe-hunting for something appropriate. I came across this recipe from Apartment Therapy and adapted it to include the remnants of my last batch of homemade chili paste. To go along with the fish, Ali made a fantastic side with some peas in the pod I picked up from the market.


She shucked the peas, then tossed them briefly in a pan with the pesto left over from her tart, a handful of raw pistachios, and some low-fat greek yogurt. The result was sweetly green and herbaceous, the perfect evocation of spring.


CHILI-CILANTRO FLOUNDER

3/4 lb flounder
1 jalapeño
3 garlic cloves
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp white wine
1/2 cup chili paste
1 tsp sesame oil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro, with more for garnish
scallions, chopped for garnish
1 cup organic brown rice, cooked according to package instructions

1. Heat the oven to 475 degrees. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.
2. Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, chili paste, sesame oil, and cilantro. Pulse until blended. Pour the sauce over the fish. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through.
3. Serve immediately over brown rice, garnished with scallions and cilantro.


PEAS WITH PESTO AND PISTACHIOS

1 lb peas in the pod, shucked
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp homemade basil pesto
1/3 cup raw pistachios
2 tbsp low-fat greek yogurt
1 tsp tarragon
salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the pistachios in a sauté pan for 3-5 minutes, until toasted, then reserve on the side.
2. Add olive oil to the pan, then sauté onion and green onion 3-5 minutes until soft.
3. Return pistachios to the pan, and add peas, pesto, and yogurt to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until pesto and yogurt mix and peas start to change color. Season with tarragon, salt, and pepper, and serve.

2 comments:

Matty June 17, 2008 at 8:49 AM  

DELICIOUS! I'm a little confused, though, about who's writing. I wouldn't think Jon would use the word, "Fishmonger," so blithely...but I could be wrong. Jon posted it but the whole thing could, in fact, have been written by Ali in the 3rd person, "she shucked the peas."

Jon June 17, 2008 at 8:58 AM  

Oh Matt, ye hardly knew me...I wrote the fishmonger part. Blithely. Your nose did pick up on something though, even if you were led astray--I would never say "herbaceous" so blithely...Ali wrote about her peas ;).

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