The First Fennel of Summer

TilapiaandChard
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic

In yesterday's box of goodies from my CSA farm, I received some young fennel.

I like fennel. Especially with fish. Especially roasted.

So I whomped up this supper last night.

Tilapia cooks fairly quickly, so I gave the fennel a bit of a head start. I put the sliced fennel in an oven-proof skillet with a bit of olive oil. Started it on top of the stove and when it got a sizzle on, I slid it into a 400 degree oven.

After 2 or 3 minutes, I pulled the skillet out and layered on my tilapia fillets, some thinly sliced lemon, crushed fresh garlic, a diced baby eggplant, and these halved cocktail tomatoes. A bit of salt and pepper, a little more olive oil and I slid it back into the oven for about 10 minutes.

Really you could do this with just about any veggies, but here are the reasons I chose what I did:

1. Cocktail tomatoes-these are the only fresh tomatoes I will eat when it's not local tomato season. They are expensive...like $3.50 for a little mesh bag of them...you get maybe 2 dozen for that. I had a few left over from last week and the lettuce is done, so I knew I wouldn't be having salad for a while.
2. Garlic-farmer Sammy has been giving us freshly-pulled garlic each week...a fist or two. This garlic is not dried at all...it's fresh and moist and packs a powerful punch. Using it is unlike garlic from the grocery store.
3. Baby eggplant-I used this more as a personal joke that only I knew about. Sometimes I open the box from the farm and find an item where there is so little of it that it's not even a serving. This week, nestled in with the squash, was this tiny little eggplant. About 3 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. By the time I peeled it and diced it, I had about 3 tablespoons of eggplant. Not enough to cause alarm with the kids.
4. The fennel-I explained that. Fennel to me speaks "give me fish." Don't know why. I should probably expand my horizons but I really only use fennel a couple of times per year.

As you can see, my accompanying side was rainbow chard. I love chard. Especially sauteed in a skillet with a little olive oil and garlic. The chard and garlic from the farm, of course.

Anyone who reads me on a regular basis knows I gain a great deal of satisfaction from a meal that is mostly from the farm. This was it!