Sheet pan dinner: Miso fish with edamame and corn succotash
This might actually be the fastest dinner I know how to make. These are white fish steaks, but if you go for flatter, thinner fillets, it's even quicker! Either way, this dish is certainly faster than ordering bad-for-you takeout.
And this week, we definitely needed some easy, healthy dinners to help avoid the end-of-day, burned-out, bad decisions that sometimes happen at dinner time. I've been home with a super sick kid for the past few days and after just two weeks of M being in preschool, I forgot how exhausting it is to take care of a small person all day.
What I love about this dish is that it tastes kind of subtle. It's tangy and salty and certainly flavorful enough for the adults and older kids, but mild enough for the younger set if they don't love strong flavors.
The sauce really makes this dish. It requires miso paste, which you might not have on hand, but is super easy to find at the grocery store or Japanese specialty store. If needs must, you can order it on amazon. I used a red miso paste, but red or white would work fine in this recipe.
Because miso tends to be really salty, I don't add any extra sodium to this dish, but feel free to add a pinch at the end if that suits your taste.
Miso fish with edamame and corn succotash
For the sauce:
4 Tbsp miso
2 large garlic cloves
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 Tbsp avocado or other neutral oil
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/8- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1½-1¾ lb white fish (about 4-5 medium steaks)
2 cups frozen edamame (shelled)
1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels
1 Tbsp salted butter, cubed
For serving:
2-3 large scallions, sliced
2-3 large zucchini, spiralized into noodles –or-
1 package of soba noodles, cooked according to directions –or-
4-5 cups brown rice, cooked according to directions
Preheat oven to 375. Make your sauce by placing all of the ingredients in a food processor and blitzing until the sauce resembles chunky peanut butter. Set aside.
Scatter the frozen edamame and corn over the sheet pan. Place your fish on top of the veggies and spread a scant tablespoon of the sauce over each filet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the fish starts to flake fairly easily with a fork.
Remove the pan and scatter small cubes of butter around the veggies. Return to the heat and cook for 4-5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and top with sliced scallions.
Mix half of the leftover sauce with your zoodles, noodles, or rice and then add more to taste. Top each serving of zoodles, noodles, or rice with one fish filet and a portion of the veggies.
Yield: 4-5 servings, depending on how many fish steaks you use.
The best broccoli, maybe ever.
This broccoli is salty and crunchy and garlicky, but with a bit of freshness from the basil and something indefinable and unctuous from the anchovies. In other words, the best!
I don't make that claim lightly. Even the toddler eats this with abandon, though he's intermittently a huge fan of broccoli. I say "intermittently" because, like all toddlers, he's mercurial and what he loves one day, he abhors the next. Shrug.
Two things: Don't fear the anchovies and don't skip the fresh basil or substitute dried. It won't be the same. But back to the anchovies: This is a divisive little bottom-feeder. Love them or hate them, try them in this recipe. You won't really taste them because they are broken down at the start of the cooking process, so they really just become a salty, briny background note.
This dish is a great side for grilled proteins or mixed with whole grain or white pasta. I haven't yet tried it, but I also want to mix in some lentils for some non-meat protein.
Broccoli with anchovies and basil
Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4-6 side servings
2 medium heads broccoli, chopped into small pieces
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2-3 large anchovy filets (or 4-5 small ones)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup panko
15 basil leaves (about 1/3 cup chopped)
Squeeze of lemon
Preheat the oven to 400. Chop the broccoli and spread evenly over a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Add 2 Tbsp of oil and toss to coat. Add a small pinch of salt (the anchovies are salty, so you don't need much extra seasoning). Roast for 25-30 minutes until the broccoli is deeply browned on at least one side (usually the side touching the hot pan roasts first). Check the broccoli occasionally to make sure it isn’t burning. If it looks like the greens aren’t cooking evenly, give them a shake.
While the broccoli is cooking, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil over a medium flame. Turn the heat to low and add the anchovies. Using the back of a spoon or spatula, squash and chop the filets while they cook until they are completely broken down.
Add the breadcrumbs and stir. Watching them closely, toast the breadcrumbs for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan often to prevent burning, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Turn the flame to low and add the garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant.
Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl. When the broccoli is done, add it to the breadcrumb mixture and turn to coat.
Add the chopped basil and turn a few more times to distribute. Check for seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Squeeze some lemon over the top of the broccoli. Serve immediately.
Shrimp rolls
Shrimp rolls are a cheaper alternative to the classic lobster roll and scream NEW ENGLAND SUMMER! just as much.
How is it already mid-June? Things are changing so fast around here that the spring slipped away and now it's almost summer (though spring is doing its best summer impersonation as I sit outside writing this in 93 degree heat). We're also at the two-month mark in our countdown to leaving NYC...it's finally happening: We're moving to the burbs. I've lived here for 15 years, so it feels weird and exciting to live somewhere else. And to have a HOUSE! What are we even going to do with more than three rooms?
We're heading north to a great town in Connecticut and I'm excited to be a New Englander! In that spirit, here are some shrimp rolls that we make a lot during the summer. If you use pre-cooked shrimp, this is a no-cook dinner that screams summer at the beach (even sans beach). The fresh tarragon is pretty key to this concoction, but if you don't have any I would use fresh basil instead of subbing in dried tarragon.
Shrimp rolls
Time: 20-30 minutes, mostly active
Yield: 4 large rolls with about 1 cup shrimp mixture in each roll
2 lb raw shrimp (if using cooked shrimp, skip the butter; defrost overnight in the fridge or in lukewarm water, if needed)
2 Tbsp butter (plus 1-2 tsp for frying tarragon, if desired)
½ cup chopped celery (2 large stalks, minced)
2 Tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped (with a few leaves left over for frying at the end)
½ cup mayonnaise
1.5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
½ tsp old bay seasoning
large pinch salt
4 large brioche or potato hotdog buns
In a large skillet, melt the butter over a medium flame.
Add the shrimp and cook until they are pink throughout, about 5-8 minutes (longer if you start with frozen shrimp).
Chop the shrimp, celery, and tarragon and combine with the mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice, old bay, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Toast your hotdog buns and fill with shrimp mixture.
Melt another tsp or two of butter and fry whole tarragon leaves. Top the shrimp rolls with a few leaves and some more old bay seasoning. Serve immediately.
