Swiss Chard Fish Tajine with Tomatoes and Olives Recipe

Fish Tajine

Here is one more example of how succulent a dish comes out when cooked on a stovetop. The other wonderful thing is, with stovetop cooking, there’s no more talk of side dishes. It’s all aboard in a pot, and this is why in our Moroccan Cooking, everyone eats their veggies and other sides: there’s no more sides! there’s just dinner in one pot! As you know, I cook up a storm, with global flavors and methods, but I am very partial to our wonderful Moroccan Tajines, and devoted a huge chapter about it in my Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen Cookbook

The right pot is key

I hope you read the information I have for you on the choice of a pot here. Broad bottom, heavy gauge and stainless steel: This is the requirement in a nutshell.

My Fish Tajine is quite elastic!

It is most often what I find at the market that informs what I will use in my fish tajine. The method remains the same: Vegetables, aromatics and seasonings, and fish.

I am listing the recipe with the selections du jour: Cardoons (below), Swiss Chard, olives, tomatoes, mini peppers, preserved lemons.

Cardoons:

On the day I planned on making this fish tajine, I got incredibly lucky and found cardoons, members of the artichoke family that bear a striking resemblance to celery. A great favorite in our Sephardi cooking, not just with fish, but with meat and poultry as well.

They make infrequent appearances, so I am not suggesting looking for them. But I am saying, if you find them run home with them!

You must get rid of their bitterness: peel the stalks thoroughly, then cut them in 2 inch segments, and let them soak in a mixture of water and lemon or vinegar. This step is very simple but necessary.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• good pinch saffron threads
• 2 good pinches red pepper flakes
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard (kale is great too), ribs and leaves, sliced thin
• 1 bunch cardoons, prepared as instructed above. Only if you come across them, otherwise just skip them
• 2 large tomatoes, or 4 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 pound mini peppers, seeded and halved lengthwise
• 1/2 cup good quality pitted black olives
• 1 preserved lemon, skin only, thoroughly rinsed, and minced
• 2 dozen baby potatoes
• 8 serving pieces boneless skinless salmon, halibut or other thick-flesh fish

Instructions