Fish with Sides

I just love a dinner with fish and the right sides to round it off. Besides being healthy, fish is super simple and quick to make.

This Greek Snapper recipe is absolutely one of my favorite ways to eat fish. It brings together all my favorite flavors. The base flavorings of the dish are tomatoes, onions, and olives. The capers, garlic, and rosemary play a secondary role, but they are necessary to create this dish’s rich flavor. To finish off the medley of vegetables and herbs, I use white wine.

Fish with sides meal made easy: Greek Snapper with tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers — Fish with sides: this delicious Greek Snapper can be made in less than 25 minutes.

You may wonder why so many recipes include wine or some other type of alcohol. The alcohol burns away during the cooking, so it’s certainly not to get drunk—unless, as my husband joked about my Butterfinger Cheesecake, you mean “drunk on deliciousness”!

Why Is Wine Added to Food?

In cooking, red and white wine are wonderful seasonings to simmer with. Their main purpose is to enhance the other flavors of the dish.

wine for cooking - white wine pairs with fish with sides

White wine adds acidity to food, which brings out the flavors in a dish. Adding a little lemon juice (also acidic) will help bring out flavors, as well.

Red wine simmered with food helps give the dish a robust, earthy flavor. The extra tannins in red wine pair well with beef dishes.

What Can You Substitute for the Wine in a Recipe?

Often people ask what they can substitute for the wine in a dish. Really, nothing will give you the flavor of a good wine, but if you have to substitute, chicken broth is always a good alternative. Your food will still have great flavor. I’d also squeeze in a little lemon juice to replace the flavor-enhancing acidity that wine adds to a dish.

Now for the Sides…

So many different sides pair well with fish, including ones that you may think are no-nos. For example, can you serve mashed potatoes with fish? Yes! Mashed potatoes with this particular fish dish are superb. There’s just something about mashed potatoes paired with a tomatoey sauce that almost brings tears to my eyes. If it tastes good, in my book, you can do it!

Garlic mashed potatoes recipe by Stacy Lyn Harris — Do mashed potatoes go with fish? Yes!

With this Greek snapper I’m also serving an Italian salad. The salad adds a Mediterranean feel to this meal! It’s also packed full of flavor and nutrients and will leave you super satisfied.

big Italian salad - a great side to serve with fish — Add a big, simple Italian salad as a side for Mediterranean flair.

Now for the last element of this “fish with sides” meal, and my favorite – BUTTERFINGER CHEESECAKE!!

Top view of Butterfinger Cheesecake decorated with whipped cream around edges and plaid looking butterscotch drizzle — Butterfinger Cheesecake is a playful version of the original cheesecake.

I don’t even know where to start. This cheesecake has the best texture ever. It’s cooked in a waterbath, which means there are no cracks in the cake. The cheesecake has the most luscious creaminess mixed with the delicious Butterfinger candy. I make a butterscotch drizzle to go on top of the cheesecake that is also perfect with ice cream, over pound cake, or just eaten straight out of the jar!