Bass in artichoke and tomato broth over mashed butternutty potatoes

 

I love, love this recipe from an old issue of Gourmet. The combination of flavors is not unexpected, but rather simple and classic: tomatoes, artichokes, wine, garlic, olives. Yet it still comes together as much more than the sum of its parts. It's crazy easy and delicious, another excellent recipe staple for the weeknight repertoire. Sure, it might seem a little winter-y, being basically a stew, but it's actually quite light.

This is best served atop soft mashed potatoes to sop up all the sauce and avoid challenging the delicate texture of the fish. If I have any butternut squash laying around such as today, I like to use half squash to make it a little more nutritious and interesting (and fabulously colored). I've used all kinds of white fish and can confirm that anything firm and relatively mild will do nicely.

Fish sticks with roasted potato wedges and minted green beans

Fish sticks, y'all. Minus the fins and eyeballs and guts and other unrecognizable ingredients you get in the ones from a box. This is food for a 3 year old,  fit for adults. They're incredibly quick and easy to make, not to mention tasty as all get-out.

I've mentioned before that I have a pathological fear of deep-frying. I just can't get over the thought that the oil will bubble over and burn my house down, or the whole (400 pound Le Creuset) pot will just spontaneously jump off the stove and murder us all... It's sad. But it is my reality, so I find ways to work around it, such as these potato wedges. All the tastiness of fries, none of the crippling fear. And they're healthier to boot. Huzzah!

Seared ahi with mango chutney, coconut cilantro rice, and sesame cucumber salad

I wanted to introduce you to my garden today (otherwise known as the Proof of Concept), but I thought I'd wait for the weekend so I can snap my lovelies in the sunshine. I'm not really cooking out of it yet, anyway. But when I am, in a month or two, I will use mint, cilantro, onion and a cucumber out of it to make this meal (not addressing the tragedy that is me not owning a mango tree).

The mint actually did come from the garden, since I couldn't find mint seeds and had to use a transplant.

My cilantro has sprouted, though, and is extremely cute.

I've had a similar Ina Garten recipe flagged for a couple of months and haven't gotten around to making it, so when I noticed mangoes on sale last week I knew I had to put it on the menu. I love fruit in savory applications, and the sweet heat from the mangoes and chili are a lovely complement to the mild meatiness of the ahi. If you are skeeved out by eating rare fish, I would recommend switching to a different variety entirely - overcooked tuna is basically cat food. This chutney would be delicious on any firm white fish, like swordfish.