Weekly Dish

Mom, look! Do you see all of those green things on my plate? I ate them, every one.

I used to not like vegetables. Especially green ones. There’s a semi-famous story in my family that involves me at the dinner table refusing to eat my green beans, claiming I would be sick if I did. Like all good parents would, mine did not buy that plea, and forced me to eat them anyway. And I threw up. On the table, or so the story goes. My mom still claims I willed myself to do it. Of course, this is the same woman who doesn’t believe in medication of any sort; once when my brother was home with a severe toothache, he had to take some Midol we found in my sister’s purse. It was that or whiskey.

Medication or not, I have learned to like green vegetables. Or at least some of them, if they’re cooked the right way. These two, lemony spinach and Parmesan zucchini, are pretty unobtrusive as green vegetables go, and they complement this buttery lemon catfish dish quite nicely. The catfish recipe comes from Come On In!, which I received as a wedding gift from four separate people. Obviously, it was meant to be a staple in my collection. The zucchini is Ina Garten’s, from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, and it remains one of my favorite ways to prepare this abundant vegetable. The spinach is the basis for the spinach pie filling later in the week, but it is also good by itself.

Additionally, Eileen in the wine department at Calandro’s recommended a buttery Chardonnay to accompany this meal, and as usual she was right on target. The Mark West Chardonnay from Sonoma was a perfect match for the subtle citrus and butter flavors of this meal.

Crunchy Catfish with Lemon Butter Sauce

4 thin catfish fillets

2 eggs, beaten

2 T. water

1 cup butter-flavored crackers, crushed

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 T. Greek seasoning

2 T. butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the eggs and water in a shallow bowl. Combine the crackers, cheese, and seasoning on a plate. Dredge the fillets in the eggs and then coat with the cracker mixture. Place in a greased casserole, and drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for about 30 minutes.

For the sauce:

1/2 stick butter

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter over low heat; add the green onions and juice. Season to taste, and simmer for a few minutes. Serve over the fish.

–From Come On In! by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi, 1991.

Lemony Spinach

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Saute the garlic slices in olive oil over medium heat. Add the spinach, a handful at a time, stirring until it wilts. Keep adding it until it is all wilted. Add lemon juice and season well with salt and pepper. Reserve any extra for the spinach pie later in the week; if you know you’re going to make it, you can even double this recipe and be a step ahead.

Zucchini with Parmesan Cheese

1 yellow onion, diced

2 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered

Butter and olive oil, 1 T. each

Salt and pepper

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook the onions in butter and oil over medium heat until the onions begin to brown. Add the zucchini slices in batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. You want them to brown on both sides, which they won’t do if you put too many of them in the skillet like I did. Sprinkle with lots of Parmesan cheese when they finish cooking, and serve with more on top. Serve this meal with a nice, buttery Chardonnay, and enjoy eating your green vegetables.

–From Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten, 2002.

Posted: Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 at 10:58 am Filed under: Main Dish, On the Side, Vegetables, Seafood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.