Sea Bass with Cherry Tomatoes and Olives

Sea bass is my favorite fish. It’s very light and delicate and absorbs flavours really well. This Meditteranean-style preparation is very delicious and nutritious. I use a rub on the fish as well as a marinade, and cook it in tin foil pouches.

Ingredients

I neglected to take a pretty picture of all the ingredients together. Oops! Anyway, here’s what you need:

2 Sea Bass steaks

Rub
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp Greek seasoning
1/2 tsp basil (fresh or dried)
1/2 tsp oregano (fresh or dried)
1 clove of minced garlic
2 tsp olive oil

Marinade
12 – 15 cherry tomatoes
10 olives, pitted
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Don’t worry too much about getting the measurements exact. Play a little! Taste test!

This will make 2 servings.

Directions

First, a note on sea bass. It’s a fantastic fish, but it’s also an expensive fish. If you want to try this recipe but don’t want to spend a fortune, you can substitute another white fish. Halibut is probably the closest comparison.

The first thing to do is make the rub. Add all the dry ingredients. Don’t worry too much about getting exact measurements and if there’s an herb or spice you think would go well add it (or take away one you don’t like so much).

Add in the garlic and the olive oil and mix it up really well. If you give it a taste it will be really strong, but should give you a good idea of the flavour so you can tell if you need to add more of anything.

Rub the mixture all over the fish then cover and refrigerate. Try to make it far enough in advance that it has at least a couple of hours to sit in the fridge.

Now it’s time to make the marinade. Good tomatoes are key. Look at these gorgeous multi-coloured market-fresh cherry tomatoes I had to work with. Yum.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to a bowl. Then add the olives – I like to use both green and black for some colour variation. I cut any especially large olives in half as well. Add in the rest of the ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, white wine, garlic, salt and pepper). Go easy on the salt, as the mixture will naturally draw a lot of it from the olives. Give it a good stir and stick it in the fridge. Again, it’s best if it has a couple hours to sit.

When you’re ready to get cooking, lay out 2 large pieces of tin foil on a flat surface and fold up the edges. Spread a little of the juice from the marinade on the foil (to prevent the bottom from sticking), then place the fish on top. Cover each piece with half of the tomato/olive mixture.

Roll/fold up the edges of the tin foil, making a pouch. This really seals in the flavours and helps the fish retain as much moisture as possible.

Cook these at 400°F for 20 minutes.

If you want to use the oven, place the tinfoil pouches on a baking sheet. If you want to use the grill, be sure to put the pouches on the top rack. After 20 minutes, remove from the oven or grill and let them sit for about 5 minutes before opening the pouches.

Cut open the tinfoil and transfer the sea bass onto a plate. Make sure to get all of the tomatoes and olives as well. Enjoy!