As I said last night, in my write-up about my seared ahi tuna, I recently found and fell in love with the fresh fish available at Montana Fish Company. We bought some fresh salmon fillets while we were there and tonight I prepared them for dinner. I am a big fan of baking/steaming fish in parchment in the oven because I feel it doesn’t take the flavors away from the fish like pan-frying and breading can do.

Ready for the oven ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

This one “pack” meal of veggies and fish in each packet is a great time-saving and dish-saving way to cook! I think this would be great for dinner parties too because you could quickly and easily prepare these ahead of time (minus the lemon juice/lemon until cooking time), keep them in the fridge, and then just bake them in the oven when ready. Also, it is a fast and pretty way to serve people. Each person gets one packet in the parchment, gently cut open to let the steam out and give guests a glance at the lovely contents.

Just out of the oven ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

I had no additions or subtractions for this recipe; it was perfect as is. I did place the parchment packet on a baking sheet however and cooked it for 16 minutes (still a tiny bit underdone in the middle–barely). So if you want all the way fully cooked through then I’d say 18 minutes would be perfect. Here’s my fish & veggies after they came out of the pocket: #giadadelaurentiis

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Italian Fish and Veggie Pockets

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Cook Time:18 min
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 3/4 pound sugar snap peas, stemmed
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 salmon fillets, skinned (or other fish about 1/2-inch thick)
• 4 thin slices lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint leaves
• 2 large sheets of aluminum foil or parchment paper

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a small bowl mix together the lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

2. Lay out the 2 sheets of aluminum foil. Place 1/2 of the sugar snap peas, 1/2 of the yellow bell peppers, and 1/2 of the orange bell peppers on each sheet of foil. Over each pile of vegetables drizzle 1 tablespoon of white wine, 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and gently toss.

3. Top each pile of seasoned vegetables with a piece of fish. Sprinkle the fish with some of the reserved lemon zest mixture. Top each fish with 2 slices of lemon.

4. Fold up the foil into an air-tight packet. Place the foil packets in the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. Sprinkle the fish with mint just before serving.