Turbot over Lentils with Spinach and Tomatoes

As you may have gotten from my last post, I am VERY appreciative of my mother. One of her favorite things is when I come home and cook for her--she even calls me her "own personal chef". I'm not sure if it makes her happier to have me cook or if it makes me happier that my mom, who cooked for me almost every day for the first 18 years of my life, enjoys my food. I like to think its a tie.

As planned, on Saturday I cooked dinner for my parents. We went foodshopping at the farmer's market, and stopped at the wonderful Carlino's market in Ardmore, which has doubled in size since I was there last! My mum picked out a fancy olive oil for her to have, and we decided that we should do appetizers on our deck overlooking our (still closed) pool since it was 75 degrees and sunny. When we got to the farmer's market, we stopped at DiBruno Bros. stall and picked out a good bread, olives, proscuitto, 2 kinds of cheeses (you can taste test them there and the cheesemongers are super knowledgeable), grilled peppers and white beans in tomato sauce (sound familiar? This is where I got the idea!).

That night, I made my mum turbot, served over lentils (her favorite) with spinach and tomatoes and a side of roasted brussel sprouts (her other fave). She never gets to eat either of those at home because, well, my dad is a pain in the butt about certain foods (remember my artichoke post?) and lentils and brussel sprouts fall into that category. So my dad had almost an entirely different dinner. He had turbot served over jasmine rice with a side of steamed spinach. Seriously, maybe I should work in a restaurant. I'm already taking different orders!

The recipe for the lentils is based on Dishing Up Delights. It was surprisingly simple, although a bit bland. I think that could have been fixed with a sauce on the fish or adding some spice to the lentils. Next time!

Turbot Served over Lentils with Spinach and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 oz turbot, per person
1 c. dry white wine
1 lemon
1 cup dried lentils
1 bag baby spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
1 package cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp diced shallot
1 tbsp diced garlic
2 tbsp Italian parsley
2 tbsp fresh basil

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to package directions. These really beef up as they cook, so don't underestimate one cup of the dried lentils. However, feel free to make more--you can always save for another meal.

2. Preheat oven to 400F. Meanwhile, marinate fish in white wine and lemon juice from the lemon. When the oven is heated, cook fish--it will take about 15 minutes, depending on how thick the fish fillets are. Cook to your own taste.

2. Once cooked, drain lentils and set aside.

3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, until just wilted. Add the tomatoes, lentils, basil and parsley and stir. Cook until warmed through, about one minute. Add salt and pepper to taste; you can also add lemon juice at this point.

4. Serve by placing lentil mixture on a plate and putting fish on top.