Because tilapia is widely available fresh and individually quick frozen in the supermarket frozen- foods section, the desperate cook can decide to serve tilapia even at the last minute.

Today's recipe pairs the light, flaky fish with wilted Asian spinach for a dinner that is fancy enough for company. But the best news is that dinner is served in less than 20 minutes.

Asian-Style Fillets With Fresh Spinach

Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound thin fish fillets, such as tilapia or trout, defrosted if frozen

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons rice-wine vinegar

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic

2 teaspoons bottled chopped ginger

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

12 cups (loosely packed) fresh, prewashed spinach leaves, tough stems removed

• Place the flour, black pepper and fish fillets in a zipper-top plastic bag.

• Shake well to coat.

• Heat the oil on medium-high in an extra-deep 12-inch skillet. Add the fish to the skillet, and cook on the first side until it begins to brown, about 4 minutes.

• Turn the fillets and reduce the heat to medium.

• Cook until lightly browned on the second side and the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, about 3 to 4 more minutes.

• When the fish is done, remove it to a serving plate. Pour the vinegar and soy sauce into the skillet and stir to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add garlic, ginger and sesame seeds.

• Add fresh spinach. Toss to coat in the sauce and to wilt. (Depending on the pan, you may have to cook the spinach in two batches. Simply lift first batch from the pan using a slotted spoon to leave the juices in pan for second batch. Place the first cooked batch with the fish until all the spinach is cooked.)

• Place all the fish and cooked spinach back in the pan over medium-low heat and cover.

• Cook for a minute or two to reheat the "precooked" items.

• Serve at once. Using tongs, divide the spinach between four plates and top with fillets.

• Drizzle any remaining sauce over the fish and spinach on each plate.

Nutritional information per serving: 248 cal., 12 g fat (2 g sat.), 57 mg chol., 10 g carb., 733 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 28 g pro.

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of "Desperation Dinners!" (Workman, 1997), "Desperation Entertaining!" (Workman, 2002) and "Cheap.Fast.Good!" (Workman, 2006).

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