My dad, like so many of us in the family, is a college teacher. Many of his students are adults, and some regularly give him food gifts. Much of this bounty he and my mom enjoy. Sometimes there's just too much, and he passes it along to us.

Sometimes we get canning jars of peaches or berries from somebody's back yard trees or pick-your-own-fruit adventure. Sometimes it's home-smoked salmon. A few months ago, my dad gave us three packages of frozen line-caught red snapper. Into the freezer they went and there they stayed; I'm not big on red snapper, unless it's the Mexican kind. (Huachinango. Yum.)

These days, I'm trying to reduce my dairy, wheat, beef, sugar, and caffeine, which makes eating with my family a bit challenging. Meanwhile, Annie wants to improve her cooking chops, and is cooking dinner once a week.

A few days ago it was her turn to cook. What could she make that we would all enjoy, that she could make easily, that would fit with my needs? "Red snapper stew!" she said, reminding us of all that fish in the freezer.

Annie's sister -- my stepdaughter -- Rachel makes this dish a lot, and Annie had eaten it at her house. The original recipe came either from my husband Bill or Rachel's mom. Neither is sure who made it first, so I'm renaming it -- I think we should just call it Sonnenschein Snapper Stew.

(Sonnenschein is pronounced "Sun-en-shine" for those wondering.)

So Annie called Rachel for the recipe, then cooked this for dinner -- it was absolutely delicious, one of those dishes that far transcends its simple ingredients. As you can see, the recipe is very flexible.

Annie and Bill ate it with French bread slathered with butter. I ate it plain. Now we only have two packages of frozen snapper in the freezer.

Sonnenschein Snapper Stew

3/4 -1 pound red snapper, cut in 2 inch chunks
4 or 5 large cloves of garlic (approx. 1/2 head)
3 small to medium onions, sliced or chunked
3 small to medium tomatoes, chunked
1 large can whole tomatoes
3 zucchinis, sliced into rounds
1-2 green bell peppers, cut into eighths or sixteenths
1/4 - 1/3 cup of La Victoria green taco sauce to taste
1/2 - 3/4 bottle of dry white wine
olive oil
salt to taste

Saute onion and garlic in small amount of oil in large stew pot until translucent.

Add tomatoes (fresh and canned), bell pepper, zucchini, salt, and green sauce.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until veggies are cooked.

Add fish and white wine, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until fish is cooked and soaked in sauce.

Adjust salt as needed.

Serve with sourdough bread and butter (and don't forget to slather.)