Halibut "Toscano"--Just for the helluvit

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We have a lack of willpower chez nous. Every time we go grocery shopping, we give ourselves a little pep talk about how we're not going to spend a lot of money.

And then we go to our crack dealer, Central Market.

We'd be much better at this game if we only shopped at Fiesta. Nothing wrong with Fiesta, mind you. I'm just sayin'...

But, we went to CM this weekend, and they had halibut on sale. Who can resist? Figuring out how to cook it on short notice presented a bit of a problem. Fortunately, they also had fresh sun-dried tomatoes, and my sister in-law had just bought us some Texas-grown olives. From there, the meal pretty much cooked itself.

Halibut "Toscano"

What you need:

2 tsp olive oil
1 lb. halibut
1 tbsp italian parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp oregeno (minced, if fresh)
1/2 roma tomato, sliced thin
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/2 cup cannelini beans
1/8 tsp salt

1 cup israeli couscous
1/8 cup calamata olives, minced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped and with about 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 cup fresh basil, chopped (or chiffonade)
salt to taste

What to do with it:

Preheat an oven to 425. Mix together the parsely, salt, garlic and oregano. Add the olive oil to the sun dried tomatoes and let them sit.

Place about 2 cups water, some salt and a dash of olive oil in a pot, and start the water boiling. (Once the water starts boiling, throw in your couscous, but don't wait to start cooking the halibut.)

While waiting for the water for the couscous to boil, put 2 tsp olive oil in a pan and turn the pan up to medium-high.

At the point when the oil begins to recede from the center of the pan (just before it starts smoking), put the halibut in, skin side up for 4 minutes.

Take the halibut up, put it skin side down on some aluminum foil. Cover with the parsley mixture, squeeze half the lemon juice on top. Put the tomatoes on top, and surround with the beans. Squeeze the remainder of the lemon on the beans, the fold up the edges of the foil to create a packet, and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, once the couscous gets to al dente (about 11 minutes after you put it in, drain, place in a bowl, and mix in the sun dried tomatoes, basil and olives. Mix, and salt to taste.

Pull out your halibut, plate with beans and couscous. Enjoy with a chardonnay, or maybe even a chianti!

Oh, and you should check out http://www.halfhourmeals.com/food-for-thought/featured-community-member-thomasmorris/! Someone other than my mother thinks I've got something interesting to say!