“Fast dinner” is like an oxymoron to me, because lots of things I love to make are a process – usually because I plan it that way and I love to hang out in my kitchen as a PMA (primary nighttime activity). But for those times when I actually want to make something quick, this fish and rice combo is the bomb. You can get the pilaf going, then make the fish pretty much from start to finish while the rice cooks up. Lemon-caper-butter-garlic-wine sauce for fish basically a flavor dream come true, but if you don’t like capers you could add olives instead or leave out the capers/olive and add a tiny but more lemon juice if you like things puckery.
Rice pilaf is basically, “rice and all the stuff in it, made in one pot.” In this case that stuff is carrots, onions, and herbs. I really like making pilaf because it’s more forgiving than making regular rice, which is actually a science and in Japan people spend seven years training at sushi restaurants just for the privilege of making the perfect rice. (Yes, really.) In this case, because you want the rice to stay moist and it cooks in liquid, if you cook it a minute too long no one is going to put you in carbohydrate preparation jail.