Very, Very Mild Fish

Name: Very, Very Mild Fish
Yield: serves 2
Ingredients: Olive oil spray; 1 medium russet potato, cut into small cubes; Sea salt; 1/2 to 3/4 pound fish fillets; 3 to 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1 tablespoon butter, slivered; 1 thick lemon slice, or 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice; 4 to 6 mushrooms, thickly sliced, optional; 2 whole scallions, optional; 2 cups baby carrots, sliced into thirds; 1/4 head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets (about 2 cups)

December 9, 2011

My young children won’t eat the scallions in this recipe, so I leave them whole and remove them before serving. But I’m nonetheless pleased to know I’ve added another flavor to their taste memory that will increase the spectrum of their eating preferences and habits over a lifetime. The mildest types of fish-and thus more acceptable to non-fish or picky eaters-are the flat white fish: flounder, sole, even haddock or tilapia. This is one time when it is okay if the pieces of fish overlap or are even frozen together. It is rare for me to use butter in a recipe, but in this particular case I think it gives the fish a smoother mouth experience, which might be less offensive for difficult or timid eaters. You certainly can use olive oil, or just skip it altogether

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