By Erin Brighton, CampBrighton.com
This easy striped bass simmered in tomatoes and spinach was a huge hit for dinner recently. One of my 11-year-old’s bucket list items this summer was to catch dinner! After many attempts and many catches that were too small to keep, he finally caught a 36-inch striper with his friend and his friend’s dad. Rory was over the moon excited by his catch and I was equally excited to cook it!
I usually make this simple tomato and spinach recipe with local cod, but Rory’s striped bass was a delicious substitute. So much flavor!! So fresh. You can use any white fish for this recipe – you can’t go wrong.
Fresh Striper in Tomatoes and Spinach
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
Handful of fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 lbs of striped bass (or cod or similar fish)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 handful kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
5-8 oz fresh spinach or baby spinach
Directions:
Sauté 1 medium onion, thinly sliced, 3 cloves of garlic, chopped, and a handful of fresh basil leaves in olive oil. Add a little salt. Stir until onion is translucent.
Pat the fish dry. Salt and pepper both sides of the striper (or cod) filets and set aside.
Add one can of diced tomatoes (don’t drain) to the onions and garlic. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon sugar. I also added a handful of kalamata olives and 2 tablespoons or so of capers. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes to reduce the sauce a little.
Nestle the fish filets into the sauce and spoon a little bit of the tomatoes over the top. Let the fish cook in the tomato sauce until the fish is cooked through and starts to be a little flaky when you put a fork in it.
To finish, dump a few handfuls of fresh spinach over the fish and tomatoes. Cover and let cook down for about 2 minutes. The spinach will cook almost instantly.
Serve over jasmine rice. Enjoy!!
