Dover Sole with Sauteed Carrot, Leek, and Fennel

Happy New Year, Fellow Foodies! I seem to have recipes stuffed everywhere...scrawled on a pad of crumpled and coffee-stained paper, typed and saved somewhere in the depths of my computer, even lurking in the drafts folder of this blog. Like this one. Which was apparently waiting for a picture that I never took.

So screw it—this one is photo-less. Here's to a new year full of delicious food, messy kitchens, and human imperfections!

[now please imagine a photo of a beautiful fish.]

Serve this alongside orzo or Israeli couscous mixed with a little butter and lemon zest or chopped sorrel. Pairs wonderfully with a lemony Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1-2 leeks, white and light green parts, halved lengthwise, rinsed well, and sliced
3-4 carrots, halved crosswise and julienned
Salt
1 cup diced fennel bulb
1 lb dover sole
Slosh white wine
1 tbsp butter
Few handfuls cress or baby arugula
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then the leek. Sprinkle with salt and sauté for about 7 minutes, turning the heat down to medium-low to avoid browning. Add the carrot and continue to cook about 3 minutes more. Decant the mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Return the pan to the stove and set over medium heat. Add a glug of olive and then the fennel. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until tender, allowing it to brown.

Turn the heat down to medium-low. Give the fennel a stir and space it out in an even layer across the pan. Lay the dover sole down across it, first in one layer, and then in a second overlapping layer if needed. Sprinkle each layer with salt. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top, add a slosh of wine and the butter cut into small pieces, and cover.

Cook 5-7 minutes or until the fish is almost done (no longer pink but not yet flaking). Sprinkle generously with cress or arugula and the lemon zest, then cover the pan for another minute to let the greens wilt. Serve hot, with freshly ground black pepper over the top.