Fish for Dinner: Marinated Arctic Char with Salsa Verde

Marinated Arctic Char with Salsa Verde - the main ingredient is zucchini!

The Fish for Dinner feature chronicles my education in the ways of fish-cookery. I grew up avoiding fish other than sticks and was well into adulthood before adding the real deal into my diet, 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 seafood instead. I’ll tell you what we made and how we liked it, plus a few tips and fishin’ tunes too.

I don’t usually post the recipes that turn out poorly. Who needs to read about my failed kitchen experiments? So maybe you're getting bored reading that XYZ was ‘delicious’ or ‘sooo tasty’. I hear you, I feel your pain, and yet will ask you to grit your teeth when I tell you that this particular Fish for Dinner recipe was extra-special delicious and super-duper tasty. It really was!

The fish itself was moist, tender and a little bit sweet in flavor. And that salsa verde – ay yi yi, I want to eat it on everything. Grilled veggies, other meats, chocolate cake … well maybe not the cake, let’s not get ridiculous. But everything else is under consideration.

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By Hillebrand Steve, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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The salsa requires about 20 minutes of chopping but can be made ahead of time. The fish needs approx. 20 minutes lead time to marinate in a rub of aromatics, but then cooks up in less than 10 minutes.

Funny haha or just odd – you decide: The salsa recipe calls for toasted pine nuts but I decided to wait and add them right before serving so they wouldn’t get soggy. And then completely forgot. The salsa verde was still awesomely flavorful even without the toasty crunch, and I had a tasty snack with the leftover nuts the next day. Win-win!

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

Printable Recipe- Marinated Arctic Char with Salsa Verde
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Marinated Arctic Char with Salsa Verde
Recipe source:  Anne Burrell via Food Network
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1/2 lemon, zested
• 4 skin-on fillets arctic char
• Kosher salt
• Salsa Verde, for serving, recipe follows

Salsa Verde Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped dill
• 2 pinches crushed red pepper
• Pinch kosher salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 bunch parsley, leaves chopped
• 1 zucchini, green skin parts only, small dice
• 1/4 medium red onion, finely diced

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine the olive oil, crushed red pepper, thyme, garlic and lemon zest in a medium bowl, and then massage over the fish.
• Sprinkle with salt, and set aside to marinate, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Rub off any excess herbs to prevent burning. Coat a medium saute pan with olive oil and bring to high heat.
• When the oil is hot, add the fish skin-side down. Resist the urge to try to move the fish.
• Cook 3 to 4 minutes, and then gently shake the pan to allow the fish to unstick itself. Carefully flip and continue cooking until just cooked through, about 4 minutes more.
• Serve with the Salsa Verde.

Salsa Verde:

• Combine the vinegar, olive oil, pine nuts, dill, red pepper, salt, garlic, parsley, zucchini and onions in a medium bowl. Taste and season with more salt, if necessary.
• Can be made up to 4 hours ahead and chilled in the refrigerator.
• Serve at room temperature.

​Yield: 2 cups