BAKED FLOUNDER

New Bern has two fish markets, but I rarely get to either of them. Instead, I look for fresh fish at our local Harris Teeter store. Last week, while ogling all the fish, I asked when the whole flounder arrived. "Today," was the answer. Yup. That's for me. It was still whole, but Guy has a fillet knife and he wasted no time skinning and filleting the beautiful fish. We got two big fillets and two small fillets. I made the two big fillets for dinner and froze the two small ones for next week. It was a bargain for a total price of $10.59. And it was fresh. Not a bit of fishy taste at all. It was delicate and mild the way flounder should be.
Finally, something Guy and I agree on: we both like our flounder plain and simple. In warmer weather we grill it in tinfoil outside. But last week we wanted the oven on, so I preheated the oven to 400F, and placed the fish (patted dry with paper towels on a baking dish that had been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. I sprinkled it with about 1 tsp. lemon juice, then very lightly with sea salt, smoked paprika and chopped fresh parsley. A few dots of Smart Balance buttery spread (or butter) on each fillet and in the oven it went for about 20 minutes. This was so easy and so good. Nothing exotic here, but the taste was superb and we were both so happy. As long as the oven was on, I threw in some broccoli, pea pods and onions and some fingerling potatoes. Actually the fingerlings went in about 10 minutes ahead to give them enough time. They got a shot of EVOO and some salt and pepper, same as the broccoli, etc. When the broccoli, etc., came out, I gave it a dose of lemon-garlic vinaigrette. If you think of fish as a torture meal, this one would change your mind. It was a meal fit for a king.