Striped Bass Roasted with Heirloom Tomatoes and Artichokes

There is nothing like fresh fish.  Our daughter is getting to like fish, so each week we buy a different, nice piece of fish, just to try the field and see what we like.  One day a friend gave us a pound of Striped Bass, freshly-caught off the coast of Cape Cod, the day before.

Wow.  The simple prep with heirloom grape tomatoes, some artichokes and capers, was all it took to highlight the freshness of these fillets.  The main trick is not to overcook and dry them out - caution is worth the effort here.

12-oz frozen quartered baby artichokes
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 lb heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp capers
1 tsp herbes de Provence, or Italian herbs
1 lb striped bass filet, preferably skinned

Preheat oven to 400F.  Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan.  Toss in the artichokes and onion, and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes, just until the tomatoes heat through and are beginning to blister.  Add the garlic, capers and herbs and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Turn the tomato mixture into a casserole and nestle the fish fillets into the tomatoes.  Salt an pepper to taste.  Roast fish for about 10-15 minutes, just until cooked through.

Serves 4.

Here, I served the fish with smashed potatoes and fresh avocado.