Red Trout With Corn-and-Leek Sauce

Red trout is a very flavorful, flaky and tender fish that's also very low in fat. It's accompanied here by an easy-to-make saffron-flavored corn-and-leek sauce. Saffron's an expensive spice, but a tiny bit goes a long way. In fact, this recipe requires just five or six threads of it. The result is an aromatic sauce that has a beautiful golden color.

The trout is paired with fresh green beans and red potatoes seasoned with tarragon, an herb that has a fresh licoricelike taste. This meal is very low in fat and packs more than 44 grams of protein.

Fish
4 7-ounce red trout fillets, skinned and trimmed
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Vegetables
1/2 pound green beans, washed, trimmed and sliced
4 medium red potatoes, scrubbed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Sauce
2 leeks, white part only
1 ear corn
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 ounce nonfat milk
cracked black pepper to taste

Bake or microwave the potatoes until they are almost cooked through. Boil the green beans in water until they are tender-crisp. Season with pepper and set aside.

Clean the leeks thoroughly and slice. Cut the kernels from the ear of corn. Heat a nonstick saucepan and place the leeks, corn and saffron in it; braise until the leeks turn translucent. Add the chicken broth and simmer until the volume is reduced by three-fourths. Add the milk. Using a hand blender, puree the sauce until it is silky and smooth. Season with pepper.

Carefully cut the potatoes into quarters and saut' in a hot nonstick pan until they form a golden crust.

In a large nonstick pan, sear the trout fillets until they are golden brown on one side. Turn over and sear the other side. When the fish is cooked about two-thirds'the time it takes depends on the thickness of the fillets'turn off the heat and let the fish finish cooking. This takes about 10 minutes and is the key to moist and tender fish.

Toss the potatoes with the tarragon.

Make a bed of sauce in the center of each plate and top with trout fillets. Divide the green beans and potatoes among the four plates. Enjoy.

This makes four portions, each containing:

Calories: 354
Protein: 44.3 grams
Carbohydrates: 19.7 grams Fat: 7.5 grams