Tilapia over Swiss Chard and Cannelini Beans

I just found this recipe for swiss chard with cannelini beans on the Williams-Sonoma website.  You might not expect it, but they have an amazing recipe collection which I highly recommend.  The author suggested serving it as a sauce for pasta or over polenta, but when I saw it I immediately thought it would be great served under a fillet of fish.  I prepared the tilapia similarly to the meuniere method I used for the sole a few posts ago.  It came out to be a really nice dish.  It reminded me of something very fancy I had in a five course meal at Ten Tables Restaurant in Boston, but this version is really pretty inexpensive and also fairly easy to make.  I prepped all the ingredients before I left for work so it only took about 25 minutes  when I got home.  Feel free to substitute whatever fish looks best at your market.  For an extra special presentation, make some polenta and serve it beneath the bean mixture, but it really is so elegant without it too that it doesn't seem worth the extra effort to me.

Tilapia over Swiss Chard and Cannelini Beans

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch (about 1 lb.) red, white or rainbow Swiss chard
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped*
• 1 celery stalk, chopped*
• 1 carrot, chopped*
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 lb. tilapia fillets
• Small quantity of flour
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. butter
• Juice of 1/2 lemon 

*Note about chopping the carrots, onions, and celery:  Since you will be able to see these ingredients in the final presentation, they should be uniformly cut into about a 1/4" dice.  This will not only look better in the end but also will help them cook more evenly.


DIRECTIONS:

Trim the stems and center ribs off the chard. Rinse the leaves, shake off the excess water and stack the leaves on a cutting board. Thinly slice crosswise. Set aside.

In a wide sauté pan or 5- to 7-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil and add the onion, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then stir in the tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes break down and the sauce thickens a bit, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chard by the handful and stir until it has decreased significantly in volume.  Stir in the beans. Cover the pan and simmer until the greens are very soft, 10 to 15 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, coat the fish fillets with flour, salt, and pepper.  Melt the butter in a pan (non-stick works better) with the olive oil and let it cook over medium-low heat until the white foam dissolves.  Add the tilapia fillets and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.  Turn the fish over using a thin metal spatula.  Squeeze half of a lemon over the fish about one minute before it is done cooking.

Spoon a quarter of the bean mixture into shallow bowls and top each with a fillet or part of a fillet.

Serves 4.