A recipe for Fish Stick Panzanella from 'The Blue Food Cookbook' elevates a frozen staple

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Fish sticks, like any other frozen, breaded product, conjure up visions of a utilitarian meal. But there’s no reason fish sticks, which really can be very tasty, can’t be lent a little class by pairing them with marquee ingredients, such as fresh-from-the-vine heirloom tomatoes.

Panzanella, a rustic Italian salad made of chunks of yesterday’s bread brought back to life with the juice of fresh tomatoes, herbs, and crunchy sweet onions, is a perfect starting point for changing one’s mind about fish sticks.

In this recipe from Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver's “The Blue Food Cookbook,” crunchy, just-cooked fish sticks replace the bread and perform their task marvelously.

Serves: 4

12 ounces prepared breaded fish sticks

2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Salt

1 ½ pounds heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (about 1 ½ cups)

4 cups arugula

Freshly cracked Black Pepper–Fennel Blend or black pepper

Prepare the fish sticks according to the package instructions, adding a minute or two additional cooking time so they are extra crispy.

Whisk the mustard, oil, vinegar, and salt to taste in a large bowl to make a vinaigrette. Place the tomatoes in a separate bowl, drizzle with a few spoonfuls of the vinaigrette, and season with salt.

Combine the onion, fennel and arugula, in the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss. Remove the fish sticks from the oven. Cut or tear each stick into pieces roughly the size of croutons (about 3 pieces per fish stick). To serve, place the fennel-arugula mixture onto a platter or plates and top with the seasoned tomatoes and the warm fish stick pieces. Sprinkle with pepper-fennel blend.

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Excerpted from “The Blue Food Cookbook” by Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver in collaboration with Fed By Blue. Excerpt provided by Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.