Made in a single dish, baked bass with fingerlings and zucchini is an easy, elegant way to play up the flavor of fresh ingredients. Any leftover fish can be later made into fish cakes.

This recipe is one of Judith Jones' meals for one.
Servings: Serves 1
Ingredients
  • 1 whole bass (black, sea, or striped), 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds
  • Salt
  • 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 or 4 fingerling potatoes (5 ounces)
  • 1 small zucchini (about 5 ounces)
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 2 scallions , chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley plus a few whole sprigs (optional)
  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon or dill
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Directions
    Preheat oven to 400°. Rinse and dry fish, and rub some salt (about 3/8 teaspoon) and half of olive oil over it.

    Peel fingerlings; cut lengthwise into quarters. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise, then into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Toss potatoes and zucchini in rest of oil and season lightly with salt and pepper (about 1/8 teaspoon of each). Spread vegetables in the bottom of a baking dish big enough to hold bass.

    Fill cavity of fish with scallions and chopped herbs. Lay fish on top of vegetables, and sprinkle with lemon juice and a little salt. Add sprigs of herbs (if using); bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until flesh is opaque. Transfer whole fish with vegetables to a plate.

    Editor's Note: You're bound to have leftover fish. Save about 3/4 cup to make fish cakes later on in the week.

    Adapted from The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones, copyright © 2009, with permission from the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

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