Bass + Mash

As you may have noticed by now, I like to bake and eat my veggies. Its not often that I prepare meat dishes, but recently I have been on a mission to incorporate more fish into my diet. As I often do, I set out to the store unaware of what I kind of fish I would come home with. I went into my local fish market and looked for a filet that was reasonably priced + found this lovely stripped bass.

I cannot remember if I have mentioned it yet, but I tend to call myself the 'lazy chef' this is due to my ability to time manage, use the fewest dishes possible, and combine similar ingredients into many dishes which saves money when shopping + allows me to not throw away fewer unused items. The directions below incorporate how I prepared the entire meal, rather than explaining each dish. This way I can show you the method behind my madness.

Directions | Bass + Mash
1. Preheat oven to 400'
2. Pierce sweet potato a few times + place in oven (I just put it on the metal racks - saves dishes)
3. Set timer for 30 minutes
4. When timer dings: flip sweet potato, set timer for another 30 minutes, + start prepping fish
5. Line your baking dish with tin foil or, as I have done, a thin layer of olive oil
6. Slice your leeks and place them in the pan, toss them around to coat, + spread them evenly
7. Place the fish atop your bed of leeks, rub with olive oil + oregano (plus any other spices you desire)
8. Place sliced lemons, a smashed garlic or 2, and a few leeks atop fish
-- If you are roasting garlic, as I have done, place the cloves around the fish
-- This should take you about 10 minutes
9. When the timer hits 15-20 minutes remaining, lower heat to 350' + place fish in oven.
10. When the timer goes off both of your dishes will be ready to come out of the oven.
-- Place the sweet potato in a bowl, for mashing
-- Move fish to a plate (so we can remove the leeks)
11. In the bowl, begin to mash the sweet potato. Throw in a few of the garlic cloves you just roasted into the bowl as well as the leeks, add a bit of olive oil (plus any other spices you desire), and and continue to mash until it reaches desired consistency
12. Plate + Enjoy!

Tips:
This dish only used 3 dishes: baking pan, bowl, plate which makes clean up super easy!
I also made enough for 2 meals; which was a little more than 1/2 lb of fish + one large sweet potato.

Total Cost: $8.53 (or $4.25 per meal)
Fish: $6.50
Sweet Potato: $1.20
Lemon: $0.33
Leek: $0.50
If you compared this to a meal you would find at a restaurant I guarantee it would be at least $20 (or $40 for what I made).

Before

After

Served