Red Snapper Veracruz Salsa: Incredibly Easy, Incredibly Delicious

 

Happy Easter/Passover/whatever you may celebrate weekend! Today we're bringing you a meal we made up ourselves, that was inspired by watching the Food Network. Bobby Flay had his team on Worst Chef's in America make a fish with a veracruz salsa. It looked pretty good, so we wanted to make it. But since they don't list the recipe on the show or the website,  we had to reverse-engineer it, so to speak.

The basics of the veracruz salsa are pretty simple - some tomatoes, olives, capers, and red onions. That seemed to be about the extent of what was in play on the show and that's essentially what we stuck to here. We also grabbed ourselves two fresh filets of red snapper. We'd never had red snapper before but had heard that it was amazing. After one bite, we were forced to agree. It's so smooth, so luscious, yet not really that "fishy". It immediately became one of our favorite fish.

This recipe comes together really easily. Just a quick bake on the fish and a quick stir of the veracruz salsa ingredients. We served it with a side of quickly sautéed rainbow chard, making it the perfect spring dish. Dig in!

Making the Dish

What You'll Need
2 red snapper filets
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 red onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 green olives, pitted and halved
2 tbsp capers, drained
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
rainbow chard
lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pat the red snapper filets dry, and then drizzle one tablespoon of the olive oil over them. Rub in some salt and freshly ground pepper into the snapper's flesh. Then place the fish into a baking dish.

When the oven is heated, pop them in the oven and let them bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily but is not overly dry. This perfectly simple preparation will let you fully realize the pure simple deliciousness of this wonderful type of fish!

While the red snapper is baking, if you're going to prepare a side dish, now is the time to do it. We did this with a side of rainbow chard which was actually quite a perfect accompaniment. Drizzle one tablespoon of the olive oil into a pan and heat to high. Then chop up the chard into ribbons and cook quickly over high heat until it starts to wilt. Take your lemon, slice it in half, and squeeze the juice of half of the lemon into the pan. Continue to cook for about 4 - 5 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated and the chard is completely cooked. Again, simple preparation.

Finally, prepare the veracruz salsa. We really just want to warm most of the ingredients through, but make sure the onions are cooked so they are sweet instead of bitter. Pour the last tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet and start to cook the onions over medium heat, adding in a bit of salt to let the onions sweat.

After about 5 minutes, the onions should be translucent and a little golden. That's where you want them. Add in the the olives, capers and tomatoes, and squeeze in the other half of the lemon's juice. Stir together and once the ingredients have warmed through (about 2 - 3 minutes), remove from heat.

By this time, the red snapper should have finished cooking. Remove it from the oven, and place on a dish. Spoon the salsa over the fish, and add the chard or whatever else you're cooking on the side to the side. If you'd like, you can drizzle over some additional good quality olive oil, but with good ingredients and simple preparation, that's not entirely necessary. Dig in and enjoy the delicious combination of flavors!

Have a favorite simple fish preparation? Let us know about it in the comments!

One year ago: Thai Red Curry