Parchment Baked Fish with Steamed Baby Bok Choy

If there’s one thing I can count on this would be it; nights my better half comes home from a week away at work, the one and only request I ever get is to have veggies with dinner.  Not that I don’t always serve up a vegetable with dinner but on these nights I do try to make sure there are extras and they are a more substantial part of the meal.  Apparently at work he is quite deprived of all things leafy and green.  Now I’ve never seen it, but I’m sure the cafeteria up on site does serve up veggies on a regular basis but considering the amount of people they cook for daily I can only imagine that they are a lovely frozen precut variety that sit in a bain marie after being over cooked to begin with.  They likely take on that green-gray mushy color.  Is mushy a color?  Ah well, you get my drift.  Not appetizing at all!

The other thing about “fly home night” is that I try to keep it simple.  After a week away it is so nice just to be able to regroup, hang out and enjoy each other’s company so quicker meals that keep me out of the kitchen are ideal.  That is exactly what I have done here.  Parchment baked fish is a great healthy go to dish that makes clean up ridiculously easy.  Choose a thick meaty white fish for this application.  Tonight I chose Baldchin Groper (Bluebone Groper) which is caught off the coast of Western Australia,  but other fishes such as mahi~mahi, snapper, grouper, or cod (any variety but black) would work beautifully as well.  In the parchment pack with your fish there are endless flavor combinations so feel free to go crazy and add things like fresh herbs, olives, garlic, onions or chopped tomatoes.  Most of the time, however, I stick to salt, pepper and sliced lemon for simplicity’s sake.  Tonight I’ve only added a bit of lemongrass.  I’ve paired the fish with quick steamed baby bok choy to put it over the top of the healthy meter.

To steam the bok choy I use my steamer basket that fits over my 3qt sauce pan but if you don’t have a set up like this you could simply blanch the whole bok choy in boiling water for 1 – 2 minutes.  Just be sure to drain the shake off all excess water before plating otherwise you’ll end up with a soupy mess!

To add a bit of punch to an otherwise plain meal I served a bit of fresh made Sambal Matah on the side.  Sambal Matah is an Indonesian condiment I learned to make at a cooking class in Bali.  The entire week we were addicted to the stuff and requested it to be served on the side of every meal.  I’ll be sharing that recipe with you tomorrow.  It is definitely a good one to have in your arsenal.

Print

Parchment Baked Fish with Steamed Baby Bok Choy

An incredibly healthy and quick meal with easy clean up! A great choice for any day of the week.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ~ 7oz pieces of white fish mahi~mahi, grouper, snapper
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 slices of lemon
• 2 baby bok choy rinsed well
• 2 pieces of lemongrass bruised and cut into large pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400*F (200*C).
2. Tear two rectangular pieces of parchment paper (baking paper).
3. Place 1/2 of the lemongrass on each piece of paper in the middle.
4. Salt and pepper both sides of the fish filets and place on top of the lemongrass.
5. Top each filet with two lemon slices.
6. Gather two opposing ends of the parchment and fold over 1" at a time creasing as you go.
7. Keep folding until you can no longer fold while still giving the fish a little room to breathe.
8. Fold the ends and tuck under the fish and place on a baking sheet so the ends remain secure.
9. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
10. When just a few minutes of cooking time remain, bring 2" of water to boil in a sauce pan with steamer attachment.
11. Steam bok choy whole for 2 1/2 minutes.