Dinner: Stuffed Flounder

I have been in a cooking funk lately and that just isn't me. 

I LOVE cooking...like really love it and its basically in my blood {not to brag but...I come from a long line of seriously good cooks}.

Culinary lineage aside, I haven't been a star in the kitchen and I don't know if its pregnancy or what but the funk needed to go.

How does one get out of a cooking funk?

By being prepared!

* I searched the interwebs and found some new recipes then did a little grocery shopping {emphasis on "little"...I scoured the pantry and freezer first and only had to pick up a few things}. 

* I put our menu up in the kitchen. I also have a board on Pinterest : Dinner This Week {lots of great recipes there but I love that can pin from other sites too}

* I did prep work during the day {I'm a stay at home almost mom, 3rd trimester pregnant, so this is easy for me but when I worked I did the prep at night or early in the morning}. Having some or all of the work done makes it that much easier to cook and not give into the "I'm tired let's eat out" feeling.

* Stick to the plan! If it's on the menu...cook it!

This has totally been working for me this week and on the menu last night was this Stuffed Flounder recipe.  The original recipe seemed a little bland for us so I read the reviews and found lots of helpful ideas.

 I added more of everything to the stuffing mixture because it didn't seem like enough. I also added fresh garlic, red pepper and salt.

The recipe didn't call for any seasoning in the fish but I marinated it in lemon juice and Tony's {creole seasoning that is great on all meats and veggies- spicy so go easy if you don't like things to be to spicy}.

I was a little worried about the stuffing part but it was really easy. Also, some of the reviewers said that they used red snapper or tilapia instead of flounder. So...if you don't like flounder use something you like. Anyway, just be gentle when handling the fish cause it can fall apart on you. When you are done stuffing just set in in the pan. I lined my pan with foil {I always do this for easy clean up...always}.

We had grilled asparagus as a side...

Super simple, just olive oil, Tony's and lemon juice. I started cooking it when I put the fish in the oven and the timing was perfect. I used my grill pan over med/hi heat just till it had grill marks and started to get a little tender. 

The final product was great and really easy!

Will requested that this be added to the "List" {I have built a repetoire of recipes that we know that we both love and I cook 2 or 3 of those recipes each week...I can make most of them without a following a recipe. Basically it has to be good to get added to the "List"}!

Here is my version of the Stuffed Flounder:

Ingredients

2 small garlic cloves, minced or pressed

• 1 pkg sliced baby portobella mushrooms {I chopped them up smaller}
• 3 handfulls fresh spinach {I removed the stems}, rinsed and chopped
• 3 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
• 4 (4 to 6 ounce) fillets flounder- marinated in lemon juice and Tony's

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Swirl some olive oil in a medium skillet and garlic and cook on low for 2 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes or until the liquid released from the mushrooms has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the spinach to the skillet. Cook and stir about 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat and drain excess moisture{this is important, you don't want the mix to be watery}. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the vegetables with salt and red pepper, then stir it in.
5. To assemble the fish rolls, place one-quarter of the spinach mixture onto the wide end of each filet. Carefully roll the filet around the spinach mixture. Use wooden toothpicks to hold the end of each roll in place.
6. Line an 8x8 glass dish with foil. Place the fish rolls, seam side down, in the baking dish.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for *15 minutes or so until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and is opaque all the way through.

 *my flounder cooked in 15 minutes, very thin fish will cook quickly


Tonight I am trying a new twist on Chicken Parm! I will report back!


Happy cooking...until next time!