Wednesday: Grilled Basa with Herbed Rice

My hubby wanted to get in on the action; he picked this meal. He probably won't get to eat it fresh, as he has been dragged back into shutdown, kicking and screaming, but I'm sure he will be there in spirit. The rice has so many layers of flavour and the fish is such a nice complement; this is a year-round winner fer sure. Dude.

You will need:

1 Tbsp butter (always unsalted, all the time)
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 celery stalk, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c brown rice
4 green onions
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
2 c chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt
3 bay leaves
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs basa fillets, or other white\redfish, like red snapper, flounder or sea bass
1 Tbsp creole or potlatch seasoning

Not pictured: garlic AGAIN!

First, prep your veggies. Chop your onions, mince your garlic and dice your celery. I love dicing celery (but then I am a bit strange) because it makes squares easily. So tidy. Tomatoes, not so much, but dice them too. Slice your green onions thinly and chop your parsley.

Because I am using brown rice, I am going to do a quick par / pre boil on it. Rinse your rice, then bring to a boil with two cups of cold water. Cover it, cook for five minutes and turn off. Let sit.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, melt the butter in a large-ish saucepan. Add the celery and onion, cook until almost softened, about 2 minutes. Add in the garlic, cook for one more minute. Just one!

Drain your rice, if required, and stir in the rice, green onions, tomatoes and parsley. Ccook for two more minutes. Stir alla time.

Pour in the chicken stock, the salt and bay leaves, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is all absorbed, 20-25 minutes. Let sit while you do the fish.

Oil up your fish and your grill, sprinkle on the seasoning. Warm up the barbecue. I am using the potlatch mixture from Williams Sonoma because I love it so, but a creole seasoning or anything like that would work.

Grill 3 to 5 minutes per side at medium high heat, these suckers are pretty thin. There are a couple of different ways to check fish, sticking a knife in the centre for 10 seconds to see if it becomes warm is one, looking for flaking is another, waiting 5 minutes per side is another yet. Whatever floats your boat, sailor. My husband favours the I'm-tired-of-looking-at-it approach.

I separated this into 8 servings and came up with 207 calories per. Either a good salad, with maybe some goat cheese or nuts, or some veggies would put us within range of our 400-500 calorie per meal goal. Maybe wine! We could totally add a glass of wine! Maybe even a glass of Pinot Grigio! Why doesn't everyone leave your favourite wines in the comments?

Enjoy!