Butter Poached Red Snapper Mediterranean

The key to this dish is freshness.  Fresh fish, fresh spinach, fresh tomatoes.  The subtle poaching of the fish in butter combines with some light Mediterranean ingredients to make a deliciously flavored butter sauce, and served on a bed of fresh wilted spinach finished with some crumbled feta cheese and balsamic vinegar.  The dish cooks in just minutes, so have everything ready to go before you start cooking, which is the French kitchen concept of mis en place, or "all in place".

Ingredients
For the Snapper
2 5-oz filets fresh Red Snapper
1 stick unsalted butter
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
6 green olives sliced
6 Kalameta olives, sliced
3 tbsp capers
2 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp parsley (freeze-dried or dried is fine, but fresh would be better)
pepper to taste

Ingredients
For the Spinach
1-1/2 lbs fresh baby spinach
1/2 medium shallot, finely minced
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
Note: if you're really counting your carbs, substitute balsamic vinegar with red wine vinegar combined with a dash of liquid saccharine sweetener, or a packet of Splenda

The Recipes
First, start the snapper:
Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium heat.  You want the butter gently simmering, not scorching hot and sputtering.

Then, start the spinach:
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet with a tight fitting lid. When the oil is hot, saute the shallots.

Finish the dishes simultaneously:
When the shallots are giving off some color and beginning to caramelize, pour in the vinegar, put in the fresh spinach and put on the lid. Turn the heat down to medium.  Eyeball the spinach and when the leaves begin to collapse, use a pair of tongs to turn them over and allow them to wilt down thoroughly.  This will only take a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, lay the snapper gently into the melted butter and allow to poach gently for about two minutes.  Turn the fillets over and then put all the remaining ingredients into the butter mixture and allow them to gently saute and heat through, another 2-3 minutes.

When the spinach is done, toss in the feta cheese.  Lay out a portion of the spinach onto a dinner plate.  Top with the poached Snapper filet.  Top with a healthy spoonful of the tomatoes and vegetables, then spoon some of the butter sauce on top of and around the filet.