Roasted fish with mustard salsa

Note to self: Next time resist temptation to put food on plates that mimic the colors of the food.

 Yes, we're back to fish. There has to be some sort of atonement for the recent homemade ice cream transgressions. 

Roasted sea bass with mustard salsa

Adapted from “The California Cook” by Diane Rossen Worthington, a collection of California cuisine.

Ingredients

2/3 cup fresh tomato salsa (see below)

1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 to 6 fish fillets (sea bass or other firmer fish)

Method

Place fillets on pieces of parchment or tin foil big enough to form packets. Combine salsa, mustard, olive oil, herbs and juice.  Spoon a heaping tablespoon of mixture on each fillet. Enclose fillets in parchment or foil. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. At this point you can either serve the packets on plates or remove the fish from the packets to a serving plate. Serve along with remaining mustard-salsa mixture.

Fresh salsa: Chop 2 large tomatoes, 1 small hot pepper, 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, 1 minced garlic clove, 1 teaspoon lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Rating: While I like both separately, I was somewhat skeptical about how a mixture of Dijon mustard and salsa would meld, but it definitely worked. Nice fresh salsa, very moist fish. The fresh salsa by itself is quite nice. The recipe gave the alternative of purchased salsa, but I can’t imagine that would be anywhere near as tasty.

Accompaniments: A salad of baby garden greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette and topped with sliced roasted beets and crumbled goat cheese. Oh, and plain brown rice because I was feeling too lazy to think of something fancier.