Trout: Stuffed and Baked with Broccoli

Grilled fish is one of those things that just says "Hey - It's summer time. Live it up." Trout especially reminds me of warm days cruising down the White River in Arkansas catching fish left and right in a canoe with my family. I was never really much for fishing. My dad tried to instill a love for fishing in me from an early age but it never quite caught on. Even now I can't sit still for long periods of time if I'm not DOING something - reading, surfing the internet, knitting...anything. No one ever suggested I bring a book to fishing, so naturally, I hated it and found it excruciatingly boring. I mean really... you expect to take a kid to a lake and have them sit there for hours while they wait for something to bite at the wiggly worm on the hook? Unlikely.

To this day I still don't enjoy fishing...most of the time. But trout fishing holds a special place in my heart. I like how the water is clear and quick and cold and rushing past your canoe carrying you along. I like how the fish bite all the time and you can catch more than you can eat. I like the sun and the family and always being on the move. Not to mention trout tastes quite good. Luckiy for the trout, I don't go fishing. Unluckily, they sell trout at the supermarket sometimes. I had trout on my shopping list when Aj did the grocery shopping, and since "trout" is both singular and plural he wasn't sure whether to get one...or two...or five? And he just got one. Which is obviously not enough for two people. Especially when it's as good as this trout was.


So today after I got back from the gym and planted my strawberries in my new topsy-turvy strawberry planter.... I decided to cook trout for lunch. Trout for One. Trout for Me. Yum! The whole thing came out QUITE delicious and I thought I would share the love with you fine folk.

So without further ado...

Baked Stuffed Trout with Broccoli for One

• 1 Trout
• 5-6 Green Onions/Scallions, chopped into small pieces
  
• 1/4 C. Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 Tsp. dried or fresh garlic (I used sliced dried)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
  
• 1 Head of broccoli, cut into florets
  
• Salt
• Olive oil

1. The trout should be gutted. Make sure you rinse off the whole thing in warm water, even if it was gutted at the supermarket. You want the trout to have a fresh, light taste.
2. Smear the inside of the trout with butter.
   
3. Combine the scallions, breadcrumbs, and garlic and mix well. Stuff liberally into the trout.
4. Put the trout into a bread loaf pan and surround with broccoli.
5. Sprinkle liberally with salt and drizzle lightly with olive oil
6. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Lightly cover with tin foil and bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Fish is ready when it flakes and can be easily removed from the bone with a fork. If your fish is frozen at the start it might take longer to bake.