pan-roasted basa with new potatoes, tomatoes, spanish olives and kale

inspiration for tonite's dinner comes courtesy of food network's recipe of the day post on facebook, tilapia with hash browns. i'm always looking for ideas on how to cook fish, as i'm not the most confident with it in the kitchen, and the simplicity of a one-pan fish roast sounded great to a guy who's been working late lately. it also sounded like a recipe that could be repurposed easily with other similar white fish, giving me yet another technique to draw upon next time i'm faced with preparing fish.

i headed to safeway and decided to build a more rustic fish roast, based on a couple of such entrees i've had at restaurants like nopa and others. i picked up a bag of new potatoes which would add some more substance to the dish versus hash browns that just sounded too greasy. i then picked up a bunch of kale, some roma tomatoes, a jar of garlic stuffed olives (like these more than the pimento-stuffed ones) and rosemary.

i was about to ask the fishmonger for a pound of tilapia fillets and then noticed some other white fish next to it which looked a little more moist and meaty than the flimsy tilapia. i can't remember the name, but the guy said it was similar to catfish. a quick look at the label now reveals it was basa fish, a mild white fish. i know it wasn't labeled basa at the store, but it definitely matches the descriptions on the web.

once i got home, i fired up the oven to 400 degrees, sliced the new potatoes and started browning them in olive oil over medium heat. 3 cloves of chopped garlic went in as well, along with salt and black pepper.

while the potatoes browned, i chopped 2 roma tomatoes, 3 leaves of kale, and a handful of the olives. these were tossed with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.

i took one basa fillet and chopped it into large chunks. i then seasoned it with salt, pepper, crushed rosemary, and some tumeric for color.

i then layered the kale and half the tomato mixture over the potatoes, then the basa, and the remaining tomatoes.

the whole skillet went into the hot oven for about 15 minutes to roast. once i got to around 10 minutes on the clock, i kept a close eye on the fish to make sure it was cooked through but not starting to dry out. (i hate dry fish.) i was looking for medium doneness.

plating was a little complex, as there are a lot of ingredients in the dish, but it presents beautifully. the tumeric was a last minute addition, but i think it add just the right punch of color against the rich greens and reds of the kale and tomatoes. and the roasted rosemary sprig was a nice touch. to finish the dish, i drizzled extra virgin olive oil over everything and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to bring it all together.

this dish was a delight to eat. the basa fish is extremely tender and moist and is really similar to catfish but a bit milder in flavor. the tumeric and rosemary gave it a subtle but substantial flavor. the kale was tender where it was under the fish, but crispy where it was exposed to the heat, a nice contrast in texture. and the tomatoes and olives provided a nice acidic, salty punch to the smooth and starchy potatoes.

all in all, a very easy dish to prepare and it's great that it's all done in one pan. i can easily see substituting the basa with tilapia, catfish or even cod, which would be amazing. it's also a pretty cost-effective dinner. total cost for this meal comes out to around $7.50. and you know fish entrees usually clock in around $20. a success on many levels!