It's not the prettiest dish, but it smells and tastes fantastic.
I am not a fan of ‘cooking-lite.’ If I’m going to do something, I want to do it right, even if it means carrying around a little extra junk in my admittedly full trunk.
Now, this doesn’t mean that I have a total disregard for health or that I’m cramming slices of bacon and hunks of cheese into my mouth all day long. Quite the opposite, it’s just that I would prefer a smaller portion of something that tastes fantastic than a heaping plate of something that tastes so-so.
That being said, scrolling through Besotted, I did notice that there were an awful lot of bacon-y, cream-laden, cheesy, and chocolate-y recipes. At the same time, the seasonal winter-weight-gain has had my pants fitting a bit snugly, and I thought it was time to include a completely healthy, but still rock-your-world delicious Weeknight Dinner recipe.
This Oven-Poached Halibut is an adaptation from a lesser-known cookbook that has been a staple in my kitchen for several years. Caprial’s Bistro-Style Cuisine has a decidedly Northwest flavor (not surprisingly, since the restaurant is located in Portland, Oregon) with lots of fresh fish, shallots, mustard, cherries, and fennel incorporated into the recipes.
I made a couple substitutions and added a bit of kale, because I do like to get dark greens into my diet whenever I can, and I ended up with a spectacular dinner that takes less than 30 minutes, grocery-bag to dinner plate.
One note, halibut is expensive, and these are not the times for splurging on a Weeknight Dinner. Substitute with any white fish (cod, haddock, etc.), and the results will be much the same, for a fraction of the price.
Click here for a printable version of the recipe
Oven-poached Halibut in an Orange Marsala Sauce, Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 6oz. Pieces of Halibut, Haddock, or Cod
1 Onion, julienned
2 Cloves Garlic, rough chop
1 Fennel Bulb, julienned
Fronds from Fennel Bulb, rough chopped
2 Tbls. Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbls. Butter
½ Cup Marsala Wine
1 Orange, juiced and zested
1 Cup Kale, rough chopped
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Season the pieces of halibut with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof saute pan that with a lid over medium-high heat. Once hot, saute the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the fennel and saute for another 2 minutes.
The size of the chop is important here because they're being cooked on high heat. A julienne or any medium sized chop will let the pieces cook evenly.
Add the seasoned fish to the pan. Pour the orange juice and marsala over the fish. Add the orange zest, butter, kale, and chopped fronds from the fennel bulb to the pan, and stir together, making sure that the liquid covers all of the ingredients.
Cover the pan with the lid and cook in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
Once cooked, plate the pieces of fish and pour the orange marsala sauce over them, and serve.
Love fennel, but somehow never thought to combine it with fish. Sounds healthy but with a good bit of flavor!
These flavors really do meld wonderfully. I love how healthy (and virtuous!) I feel after eating it, and it’s absolutely delicious.
Speaking of Cooking Light, there is a similar recipe in this month’s issue. I was flipping through it at the dentist, so I don’t have a copy, but from what I can recall this recipe sounds better! Can’t wait to try it next week!
Definitely a good recipe! Would love a link to your blog from Foodista-related pages. We have two types of embeddable widgets that you can use to build traffic to your blog. Check it out here and let me know what you think. Thanks!
I was skeptical of this recipe because I didn’t think it would have much flavor, but it was delicious AND easy. I would definitely make it for a dinner party and I would not say that about any other fish recipe.
I also learned something in the store when shopping for fennel…in my store, they called it anise and cut the tops off, so I had to ask the produce guy to help me find it. I had never cooked with it before and I loved the flavor!