Greek style fish dishes

Fish, legumes (dried bean dishes) and plenty of vegetables, all cooked with either lemon or tomato in plenty of extra virgin olive oil make up most of the Greek Mediterranean diet. Here is my favorite blog that is dedicated to teaching people about the diet and here is the 30 day challenge for those who really want to follow the true Mediterranean diet. The dishes are always fast and simple to make–and founded upon the principle of always using fresh vegetables and excellent EVOO. The photo above is our dinner and a staple of many Greek households–baked sardines. I found these frozen at my neighborhood fish market and am excited to have what I usually have to wait until summer to have: lemony baked sardines.

Fish is usually just baked or grilled with some salt, oregano, fresh lemon and olive oil–and that is all I put inthe dish above. A quicker way is to saute fillets in olive oil and finish with fresh lemon. Or if you want to make a more hearty meal, you can make it baked “plaki” style. Traditionally, plaki is with tomato, but you can always substitute lemon. Here is my recipe:

Plaki Style Fish:
Any type of white fish fillet
Potato cut  in cubes and pre-fried in EVOO (so that the fish won’t over cook while potatoes are cooking!)
1/2 red onion, sauteed in EVOO
1 tbsp tomato paste  OR juice of 1 lemon with zest

1. Pre fry potato cubes in EVOO until golden, salt and place in pan.
2. Saute salted onion slices in evoo and add tomato paste OR lemon when soft.
3. Place fish in pan, salt & cover with sauteed onion
4. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until fish reaches desired doneness.
Enjoy!!