Aegean Fish Soup with Rice (p. 188) and Gratin of Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce (p. 308)

I had a friend over last night for dinner, and since Matt wasn't joining us it was the perfect time to make some more fish soup (which, as I may have mentioned, he is not fond of.)

Aegean Fish Soup is almost like a porridge -- super thick and rich, and awesome for a rainy day. It does take a while to cook, though, so I started the stock the day before by cooking bay leaves, oregano, pepper, a dried ancho chili, onion, carrots, and tomato in a combination of fish stock and water. 

They cooked until soft and then I ditched the veggies by straining the stock -- they just imparted their flavor into the stock and then apparently had no purpose in the soup any more.

I cooked the fish (tilapia) in the stock quickly -- just a few minutes per side, and then removed it and cooked a chopped potato in the same way until tender. 

The potatoes are set aside with the fish and in goes the rice (pre-soaked overnight) and left until cooked. The rice basically disintegrates into the stock to make it so thick. Then just add the potatoes and fish back into the pot.

Here's where it gets a little interesting; beat an egg and slowly add some of the hot rice-y stock into the egg mixture. Keep adding stock until the egg has heated up enough so that it doesn't scramble, and then add all of it back into the soup. Add salt and pepper and serve nice and steamy hot.

This is really good, but crazy thick. If I were to make it again I might add more stock just to make it a little more soup-like. Still, I really enjoyed this both last night and today again for lunch.

With this, I served a Cauliflower Gratin, which is basically just cooked cauliflower in a gratin dish with breadcrumbs. Cover the veggies with tomato sauce and top with more bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and chopped almonds. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the top is browned and cheesy, and then serve.

Yum, I really enjoyed this as well, and would use this preparation again for any variety of vegetables. It's a simple and fast meal, but also hearty and flavorful.

tilapia -- $8.99

onion -- $1.03

potato -- $.69

carrots -- $1.29

Total Cost of Aegean Fish Soup with Rice: $12.00

($3.00 per serving)

parsley -- $1.69

onion -- $.76

cauliflower -- $4.99

almonds -- $1.44

Total Cost of Gratin of Cauliflower with Tomato Sauce: $8.88

($1.48 per serving)