Sea Bass Deliciousness

OMG. I feel like this recipe should be framed. This is in no way mine, I got it from the unfairly thin and beautiful Giada DeLaurentis. I have been having a love affair with sea bass lately. Whole foods has an amazing fish selection- and I only buy wild caught sustainable. Try and not buy farm raised, because, well, fish shouldn't be farmed. That doesn't even make sense. Alright- so this sea bass at whole foods is delicious, and I've been looking for more recipes so I can try and make one of my own. I'm still a little hesitant about cooking seafood, because I don't do it often and am terrified I'm gonna mess it up. But I keep following recipes and try and find different ways of cooking fish and seafood so I can figure out which way I like best. I found this tonight, and decided to make it because it is SO simple, even my dog Oliver could've made it. Oh, he wants me to make sure and tell you that he minced the garlic.

So, I got some beautiful local broccolini and used some bulgur wheat I had in my pantry. If you have never had bulgur wheat, it's a delicious change from rice and you should definitely try it. It's kind of like couscous. It's higher in protein and fiber than white rice, and I love the texture, especially paired with fish. So I threw this beautiful, delicious and healthy meal together in about 15 minutes. For real. You can hug me later. Or now. I prefer now.

This serves 1 (yes, I live alone and eat alone. Just deal with it)- it's easily doubled

Roasted Broccolini

Roast the broccolini with some evoo and a little salt and pepper on a pan at 450 for about 10 minutes or until golden and tender. Meanwhile, cook the bulgur wheat according to the directions on the package. For me, I always cook bulgur in vegetable broth instead of water. These can both be cooking while you cook the fish.

Sea Bass alla Fiorentina

1- 6oz sea bass filet, skin off

1/2 cup flour

4 tbls evoo

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1- 14oz can crushed tomatoes, half of it (save the rest for a quick sauce later)

1/4 cup water

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbls basil, chopped

salt and pepper

Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow bowl, dredge the fish, tapping off the excess flour to create a light coating.

In a medium nonstick fry pan, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook the fish until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to a plate.

Wipe out the pan with a paper towel and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, tomatoes, water, parsley, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook at a simmer for 10 minutes. Add the basil and the fish and simmer for 3 minutes. Spoon the bulgur onto a plate and make a nice little bed for the fish. Spoon the fish mixture over the bulgur, and put the roasted broccolini on the side. Serve immediately. Call me with praise for introducing you to this recipe.