If you look on my Instagram feed, you'll see that I often post pictures of simple things I cook on a daily basis. Simple salads, roasted fish or chicken, healthy grain and vegetable dishes, often thrown together based on what's in season or whatever I happen to have in my fridge or pantry. Not all of these things make it onto the blog–partially because I do most of my cooking at night and the lightening's not ideal, and partially because in my mind, the things I cook are so easy they don't really need a recipe. A friend recently asked me when I was going to post the recipe for this roasted redfish dish after seeing my instagram, and I said "Oh it's so simple you don't even need a recipe." And she said, "But those are the best kind!" I suppose she's right: the simpler the recipe, the more likely that people will actually make it!

This is the perfect quick summer weeknight meal: minimal ingredients (and all super-fresh), minimal clean-up, and the whole thing can be made in under 20 minutes. Which means more time to spend with your family around the table, or outside sipping rose and watching the sun set.

redfish-veggies

You'll just need a few things to get started: cherry tomatoes (I like using multi-colored ones), fresh basil (I used micro-basil here, since it's what we had in our Quinciple box this week), redfish (or any thin fish fillets, like bass or tilapia), and any summer veggies you like (I used green beans and squash). You'll also need a big piece of parchment paper, some good extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. I love cooking fish with herbs and tomatoes in parchment, because all of the flavors meld together and create a lovely sauce for the fish. It's especially delicious if you serve the fish over couscous or quinoa, as the sauce soaks into the grains.

redfish.gif

Preheat your oven and place a large piece of parchment paper (or tin foil) on a baking sheet. Arrange your fish fillets on the paper, then scatter with halved tomatoes, and basil, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Now for the fun part: wrap up the fish like a package! Fold one of the long sides over, then the other one. Grab the other ends and begin rolling towards the center of the package, pressing down to secure each side once you're done rolling. Now it's ready to go in the oven. Easy!

redfish-parchment

While the fish is baking (which only takes 8-10 minutes), cook your veggies. You can do this however you want. For this particular meal, I steamed some green beans for a few minutes until tender-crisp, blanched them in ice water, then sauteed chopped squash for a few minutes in olive oil. I drained the beans then added them to the pan with the squash and sauteed for a couple more minutes until they were heated through. I seasoned with salt and pepper, took the fish out of the oven, and voila: beautiful, healthy meal in less than 20 minutes. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

redfish-side

{I'd like to give a shout-out to my amazing husband Brandon Carl for taking the pictures and creating the very cool gif in this post. Thanks love!}

[recipe:best-parchment-roasted-redfish-summer-vegetables-recipe]