Greek Foil Packet Fish

Fish was not something I fixed at home. It was reserved for fancier dinners out, knowing the experts in the kitchen would fix halibut, salmon or scallops in a delectable way that I was too chicken to try and recreate at home. We do live smack dab in Ohio, after all, not exactly a haven for fresh seafood.

But, the more blogs I read, the more daring I become. One of my favorites, Annie’s Eats, shares seafood recipes fairly often and one that had caught my eye a long time ago was her foil pack fish dinner over Greek orzo pasta. I decided to give it a try for our Christmas Eve dinner {just the four of us} and it has now made a spot on our traditional meals list. It was incredibly delicious and incredibly easy to put together.

I altered the original recipe to suit my own family’s tastes.  Since I’m still not yet confident in buying fresh seafood, I bought the flash-frozen, boneless, skinless halibut from our Kroger. At $15.99 for two filets, that was a splurge for us, but totally worth it. To recreate this meal for the blog, I wasn’t able to find the halibut again, and this time used cod. It was significantly less expensive and still tasty.

The foil essentially acts as a tool for steaming the fish. Once the orzo and veggie mix is ready, simply stack the feta cheese, fish and compound butter on top. Fold the short sides of the foil to meet in the center and then roll the long sides up to seal. A quick stay in a 400 degree oven {20-25 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish} is all that’s needed for a complete meal.

I’m happy to have found this method for fixing fish because it will help in getting more fish on our home table throughout the year. And yes, both my kids loved this!

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Greek Foil Packet Fish

Servings 4

Ingredients

• Four 6 - 8 oz. white boneless, skinless fish filets (halibut, cod or tilapia)
• 8 oz. orzo pasta
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 1/2 c. frozen cut green beans
• juice of one lemon
• 1 t. lemon zest
• 1 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 T. honey
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 3 T. fresh dill minced and divided
• 1 t. salt divided
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 4 T. unsalted butter softened
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small bowl, whip together the softened butter, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of fresh dill and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
• Boil water in a saucepan and cook orzo according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a stock pot. Add onion and red pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green beans and cook for 2 - 3 minutes more.
• Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, honey, garlic, 2 tablespoons of fresh dill, oregano and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add to vegetable mixture. Cook for one minute until garlic is fragrant.
• Stir in cooked orzo until everything is combined and remove pot from heat.
• Cut four pieces of foil, each about 24 inches long. On each piece of foil, divide the cooked orzo and vegetable mixture evenly, keeping it piled evenly in the center of each piece. Top each pile of cooked orzo with 2 tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese. Place a fish filet atop each. Divide butter mixture evenly and spread atop each fish filet.
• Bring short sides to meet together in the middle over the fish, then roll the long sides up to create four foil packets. Place the packets on a sheet pan and bake, on center rack of oven, for 20 - 25 minutes, until fish flakes easily or registers 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
• Allow to rest in packets for 5 minutes before opening and transferring to plates to serve.

Notes

Adapted from Annie's Eats