Monday’s meals #11 . Baked Orange Sea-bass. From the oven to your table in thirty minutes.

Firstly I know it has been a very long while since I have written a blog post but I have started to dip my fingers back in , primarily over on Instagram , however the dinner I made tonight had us all licking our lips so I had to share it with you. I will talk about my absence soon but I wanted to say thank you to all my lovely readers for reaching out over the last few months xx

As you know I adore fish and sometimes I think it can be overlooked as a family meal because there can be a fear of cooking fish. I promise this recipe is simple and uncomplicated and you will have it from preparation to the table in thirty minutes.

Ingredients

Sea-bass fillets ( I give two per adult depending on the size) If you are wary about bones, ask the fish monger to de-bone them, or serve it well flaked for your children making sure no bones make it to the plate.

Mixed quinoa or basmati rice

Spinach leaves

Asparagus

 

Marinade for the fish :

Oranges(2) (zest of the oranges and juice- retain a small amount to mix into your sautéed veg and rice/quinoa)

Honey (2 tablespoons)

Wholegrain Mustard (2 tablespoons)

Chicken stock (2 litres- mug and a half for your rice ,mug for your marinade and a mug for your sautéed veg- I use Knorr stock pots)

Mixed Italian herbs

Garlic cloves (2 for the fish marinade and 1 for the spinach and asparagus)

 

Method:

Mix the honey, wholegrain mustard,mug of chicken stock, garlic cloves, Italian herbs, most of orange juice and all of orange zest) in a bowl and place the sea-bass fillets in the marinade. Place in the oven (preheat fan over to 180 degrees) and cook for twenty to thirty minutes ( or until most of the liquid has cooked off and the fish is not translucent but nice and moist )

Next time to get your quinoa and or rice on. For the quinoa I use 100 grams of quinoa ( make sure to rinse it first) with a cup of chicken stock and some of the squeezed orange juice and bring to the boil. For plain quinoa this will absorb most of the liquid in ten to fifteen minutes, once you see holes starting to appear in the quinoa, turn the heat off, place a lid on the pot and let the steam finish the cooking process. DO NOT Stir the mix at any stage.

Likewise to cook the rice, follow the same process except you will need a mug and a half of chicken stock to one mug of rice. This will only take ten minutes to absorb the liquid so at roughly eight minutes depending on your hob you should start to look for the holes beginning to appear. Once you see most of the liquid gone in the holes, now is the time to turn the heat off, place the lid on the pot and let the retained steam finish the rice. Again DO NOT stir at any stage until you are ready to serve.

For the asparagus, make the most of your quinoa/rice boiling and place a steamer on top of the pot for a few minutes in the boiling stage and steam your asparagus for approx three minutes.

Now onto the spinach, place a little oil in a wok, fry some of your garlic, add in your spinach leaves and some of the chicken stock and orange juice. Saute for a few minutes and add the asparagus in at the end to get some of those lovely flavours.

 

That’s it, at this stage you have reached about twenty-five minutes, your rice or quinoa should be cooked, give them a fluff with a fork, serve your fish on top with a little drizzle of the remaining marinade in the baking tin and serve with the asparagus and spinach.

 

 

For full disclaimer my kids eat a little of this (more so rice than quinoa but my little boy loves the quinoa) and whilst I have yet to get them to eat a full asparagus stalk I will always serve it . The good thing is they both taste it every time and then throw it away ! I think the key at every meal time is to put the vegetables on the plate and one day out of the blue you will see it in their mouths and not on the floor. We have had some successes and some failures, however from day one I served veg they have refused in the past at dinner time, we are now at a stage where most vegetables eventually end up being eaten. Perseverance eventually wins with the kids, although if someone tried that with me with cheese it would stay on the plate for eternity!

 

I’d love to hear if you try this out , the sweetness of the marinade should be a family winner so please let me know if the kids like it too.