Herb-Crusted Snapper

Mr. L and I have been trying to eat healthier (to combat all these desserts I'm making!)...that means more fish and chicken. Personally, I am not that fond of fish. If it smells fishy or I hit a bone, that's it, can't eat it. So when I went to the store and checked out red snapper for this dish...nope, not gonna happen. The fish guy said they were not fillets and they had bones. Having no clue what was a good substitute for snapper I picked out a nice  halibut fillet to use in this recipe. And it was only three times more expensive than the snapper...sigh.

I didn't get the herbs as "finely chopped" as I would have liked and, as you can tell by the photo, they needed to be chopped finer. I thought, just looking at the dish, that the herbs would be overpowering, but they weren't. This actually tasted pretty good.

The recipe came from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast which comes from Martha Stewart Living Magazine. Most of the recipes seem straight forward. Recipes are divided by season and prep times seem minimal. You also get a nice color photo with each recipe which makes it easy to see what the dish is supposed to look like.

Herb-Crusted Snapper

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
4 Snapper fillets (6 to 8 ounces each)
  Course salt and fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup finely chopped assorted fresh herbs
Couscous, for serving

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush a baking sheet with the olive oil. Place the snapper fillets, skin side down, on a work surface; season with salt and pepper and spread each with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the mustard.
Place the herbs on a plate; press the mustard-coated side of the fillets in the herbs to coat evenly.
Bake the fish on the baking sheet, skin side down, until opaque throughout, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately with couscous if desired. Serves 4.

Notes: I used fresh thyme, flat leaf parsley and I think tarragon and sage (heavy on the parsley as that's what I had a lot of). Had to adjust the time for the halibut as it was a pretty thick piece. Added a bit more mustard than called for but I thought with such a thick piece of halibut that would be okay. Didn't bother with the couscous of course.

Comments

[barbie2be]

i prefer the more expensive halibut steaks too.

[notsoccer mom]

this looks so easy, i have to try it. i too will do halibut! and i bet you my son will love it.

[Jan]

Awesome - I can do this recipe! Have you tried Talipia? It is a very mild fish you might like.

[barbie2be]

i bet this would be great with the tilapia.

[Mrs. L]

Jan - I like tilapia, tried it several years ago. May have to use tilapia with this next time.