Quick. Easy. Cast iron.

So, the highlight of the mid-summer slump, without a doubt, is use of the cast iron skillet. Mind you, we spend a good deal of time together when okra comes over. Otherwise, though, I am rarely moved to fool with it (side note: by "fool with it," I do not mean to suggest that cast iron is difficult. Cast iron is a zillion times easier than you may think. The difficulty for me is storage under other smaller cast iron pans, all of which are quite heavy, and I can be fairly lazy). But, thanks to the cast iron and my most excellent Shun knife, I threw this one together literally in about ten or fifteen minutes minutes -- less than the time needed to call in and receive take out. As always, Penzeys helped!

To prep, I sliced the most beautiful yellow squash, chopped a bit of onion, and rinsed off trout fillets and patted dry with a paper towel. With everything prepped, I heated up olive oil over medium in a standard All-Clad pan and added the onions until translucent-ish (maybe two minutes), then the squash, sprinkling in heavy doses of my favorite what-do-I-do-with-Vegetable-X combo:

That would be the MURAL of Flavor by Penzeys (introduced to me by my dear friend Abbey, who swears by it on everything), garlic salt, and paprika. Garlic salt is especially useful when feeling too tired to chop garlic and wanting to watch the salt intake. It is the fastest disappearing spice on my shelf. Once the squash had a good stir, I was a bit worried about the liquid content, so I added a tiny bit of vegetable broth -- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan and ensure the release of a bit of steam. Then I turned to my bff, Cast Iron with Canola Oil -- enough to cover the bottom of the skillet and creep up the sides of my fish fillets, heated up to around medium to medium high.

Next, I whipped out my favorite seasonings combination for fish, even if Penzeys advertises the marriage with baked chicken (also works well, I can attest).  I sprinkled both well over the non-skin side of the trout fillets, without salt. I then dredged the fish ever so lightly in similarly seasoned cornmeal and gently slipped the fillets into the hot oil in the pan, skin side down, trying not to crowd them together.

 

After about two minutes, I checked to see if the fish had started to brown with a metal spatula. It had not. So I stirred the squash, and another minute or two later, checked again. Voila! Time to carefully flip.

Meanwhile, the squash had a lovely consistency and aroma going on. 

In another two or three minutes, the fish came out of the skillet to drain on a paper towel (very important step).

And I promise not more than 15 minutes after I walked into the kitchen, dinner was served! I broke my rule of having something green with every dinner, but, sometimes when dinner is served closer to 10 o'clock than to 8 o'clock, a rule or two can be broken. Besides, yellow squash is loaded with nutrients and anti-oxidants, so never say no to a vegetable!