Sole with couscous wrapped in banana leaf	Steve Gontram

---

Lemon Sole "En Papillote"

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 27, 2007

Yield: 4 servings

---

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, well rinsed

• Salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed, peeled and cut into thin strips

• 4 large leaves Swiss chard, stemmed and roughly chopped

• 2 banana leaves, cut in half widthwise (see note)

• 1 large lemon, cut into thin slices

• 4 (8-oz) lemon sole fillets (see note)

---

Preparation

Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; add quinoa. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook quinoa until fluffy, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in chopped thyme and parsley. Set aside.

Combine fennel and Swiss chard in a pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of water and "steam-sauté," stirring constantly, until chard is completely wilted. Season with salt and pepper; set aside.

Prepare a steamer by placing a steamer on top of a pot of water or using a steamer insert. Bring to a boil; cover with a lid.

Meanwhile, place the banana-leaf halves on a work surface. Place a couple of slices of lemon at the center of each leaf, and then place a fillet on the lemon slices. Spread the chard and fennel on top of each fillet. Mound the herbed quinoa on top of the chard-fennel mixture. Wrap the fish and other ingredients in the banana leaf as you would wrap a gift. Use butcher's twine to secure the papillote if desired; otherwise, turn the wrapped fillets right-side up.

Place gently in the steamer. Cover and steam until done, about 15 minutes. Remove and place on a serving plate. If using twine, remove it with scissors. Serve by cutting the banana leaf with scissors or a sharp knife in front of the diner so that aromatic steam rises.

Note: If lemon sole is unavailable, flounder, fluke, John Dory or any other thin, flat fish will suffice. Banana leaves can be found at Asian markets; if you can't find banana leaves, you can use parchment paper, the traditional wrapping for en papillote preparations. Other "stuffing" alternatives — such as other fresh vegetables, jasmine or basmati rice, amaranth or couscous — can be substituted for the fennel, chard and quinoa. Sheets of parchment paper can be substituted for the banana leaves.