Fish for Dinner – Halibut with Lentils and Mustard Sauce

Fish for Dinner is a recurring feature chronicling my education in the ways of fish-cookery. I grew up avoiding any fish other than sticks and was well into adulthood before slowly adding the real deal into my diet (but usually at a restaurant). The impetus to cook more fish at home comes from joining a sustainable fish program through Hooked on Fish, like a CSA that delivers boxes of farm-fresh produce but with fishies instead. I’ll tell you what we made and how we liked it, plus a few tips and fishin’ tunes too.

Halibut with Lentils and Mustard Sauce is the dish I made to christen our new kitchen post-renovation. On one hand, it was exciting to try out the new appliances and a relief to be back in action, cooking and food-blogging again. (Up until now we’ve done no cooking at all in our makeshift basement kitchen besides making sandwiches and heating leftover carry-out in the microwave. For 10 weeks.)

But we’re not fully moved into the “new” kitchen yet so the logistics of preparing this meal were a bit of a pain, running back and forth, carting supplies and ingredients and utensils between upstairs and down. Nevertheless it was great to be back in the culinary saddle again, and as a bonus: this dish turned out to be a distinct win – tasty, hearty, and easy-to-make!
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Continue reading for more of the story including the recipe, plenty of pictures, a Catch.com profile of Mr. Halibut, and a fishin’ tune for your listening pleasure. (Click Read More below.)

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By xlibber (Gone Fishing Uploaded by russavia)

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How We Prepared It:

• Halibut with Lentils and Mustard Sauce
• Green beans

 The mustard sauce is the main reason I selected this recipe. It was very tasty if you like tarragon. (Which seems to be a hot/cold thing with people, no in-between; I am pro-tarragon for the record.) But it was also unnecessary in my opinion, it didn’t add anything special to the mix. It was excellent drizzled on the green beans though, and I’ll bet it would be nice with a simple piece of grilled chicken.

​You can find the original recipe from Real Simple linked below. The printable recipe (also below) is my adaptation which omits the mustard-tarragon sauce and adds tomato paste and extra herbs and spices.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them and read the captions. 

Halibut with Lentil-Sweet Potato Stew
Recipe source: Slightly adapted from Real Simple

Printable Recipe- Halibut with Lentil-Sweet Potato Stew
File Size:	580 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 ¼ cups green lentils, rinsed (approx. ½ pound)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 6-ounce pieces halibut filet
• Lemon wedges, to serve with the fish

 
DIRECTIONS:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5-6 minutes.
• Add the garlic, sweet potato, and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
• Add the broth and lentils and dried oregano and simmer, covered, until the lentils are tender, 20-30 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fish with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook until opaque throughout, 3-5 minutes per side.
• Divide the lentil mixture and fish among plates, give a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the fish and serve.

Yield: 4

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The Verdict: Even though halibut season is coming to an end, you should keep this recipe on hand. It’s quite good, super-simple, and seems to me like the perfect fall/winter dish – hearty from the lentils yet light thanks to the fish. You could easily use another type of fish if desired – maybe cod or pike or even trout. Green lentils can be swapped with brown ones if need be, although the greenies have a sturdier texture. Some of the commenters on the original recipe site complained about not enough flavor, so I amped up my version with tomato paste, extra garlic and spices. Be sure to taste it yourself and season it to suit your tastebuds.

Isn’t this nice? Who doesn’t like a friendly, flexible recipe! If you try it, please let me know in the comments.

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