Destination Anywhere

I bought a pound of scrod on sale today, and was looking around for a different way to cook it. I remembered eating a fish in southern France when on our honeymoon, a mild white fish covered in a mixture of tomato and other vegetables, garlic, herbs and oil. It was delicious, so I wanted to see if I could make something similar, but without the huge amounts of oil probably in the original. I looked at some online recipes, and combined them into this. I think it'd be even better with snapper, swordfish or halibut. Oooh, I think this mixture would be great on boneless chicken breasts. Probably my Boston upbringing, but to me scrod always calls for buttery crumbs.

Provencal-Style Scrod--serves 4

Squeeze the juice from half a lemon over one pound fish fillets. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Arrange in an oiled baking dish.

In a large skillet, warm 1 Tbs. olive oil. (And if you're not watching calories, pour in some more!) Add a teaspoon anchovy paste (or a good chopped anchovy or two) two sliced small onions (or 1 large), 1 sliced red pepper, and one stalk chopped celery. Let the vegetables soften. Add 3 cloves chopped garlic, 10-12 sliced black olives (or a spoonful of tapenade) and 3 sliced large garden tomatoes. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and a handful of a mixture of chopped parsley and thyme. Let cool, then spoon the mixture over the fish. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour so some of the mixture will seep into the fish. Bake in a preheated 400 oven 15-20 minutes, or until fish flakes. Sprinkle with chopped basil.