A simple dinner of fish and vegetables is a fairly safe approach to a mindful lifestyle. That is not to say that you shouldn’t do a spot-check every once in a while. If you are looking down at a plate of frozen, toasted fish-sticks and breaded, deep-fried, buffalo cauliflower… Well, kudos for the creative work-around, but you may have wandered down the wrong path. When a little course-correction is in order, you can be sure that you won’t have to sacrifice flavor, or time to cook a mindful meal in the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven.
Halibut is a dense, meaty, white-fish. It has a very mild flavor, and can be quite neutral, but the texture is more like swordfish. Halibut is one of those fish that will satisfy a seafood lover, while not chasing away the barely-tolerant.
Ingredients
- 2 filets of Halibut
- 8 oz. Broccoli Florets
- 8 oz. Cauliflower Florets
- 8 oz. Brussel Sprouts, Cleaned and Halved
- 8 oz. Red & Green Bell Pepper Strips
- Olive Oil (an Oil Sprayer is ideal)
- Chicken Base or Bouillon powder
- Thyme, Salt & Pepper
For the Vegetables
Any mixture of fresh vegetables will work here. I like this blend because they are all right next to each other in my grocery store. That’s simple. I feel like I should have a better reason, or I should say something about a “flavor profile”. But really, you don’t need any reason to get more vegetables into your lifestyle. I may minimize the starchy ones, but other than that, make your own blend!
- Preheat the oven if you like. I sometimes set it to Bake/Roast, 485°F, 60 min and just let it run while I prepare the rest.
- Put all of the vegetables into a mixing bowl that much larger than you think it needs to be.
- Add a few shakes of chicken or vegetable bouillon powder and Black Pepper to taste. This amount of vegetable could take 1 tbsp. of bouillon (or salt) and 2 tbsp. coarse ground black pepper, but it is up to you.
- Add enough olive oil to coat – at least 3 tbsp.
- Mix thoroughly with a large spoon or spatula while turning the bowl. In about 4 or 5 turns, you should find that everything is coated evenly (pay attention to the black pepper. If that looks evenly distributed, everything else is, too.) When you are working quickly, you will appreciate having the larger bowl.
- Line the Broiling Pan with aluminum foil (or don’t) and add the vegetables. I like to distribute them evenly.
- Put in the Superheated Steam Countertop Oven and cook to your desired doneness. I like to see and taste a little char on my vegetables, so I don’t open the door until I know they have begun to caramelize. Then I leave them for another few minutes.
For the Filets
- Spray a 1/4 Sheet Foil Pan with non-stick spray.The trays for the oven are actually much bigger, but the fish is not going to take up that much room, and I would rather not clean a tray when I am done. So the foil sheet pan makes life simpler. Since I am introducing a foil pan, I choose to place it on the crisper tray instead of the broiling pan. You could always just line the broiler pan with tin foil. That will avoid cleanup, too.
- Season the filets with fresh thyme. Apply the bouillon as you would salt and add pepper on one side, then mist / spray with a light coating of olive oil and do the same on the other side.
- Place the filets on the tray and cook to your desired doneness. I don’t like rare halibut. I prefer it to be cooked through, flaky and with the texture of delicate chicken. So a good rule of thumb for halibut is to observe “venting.” Once you can see that the flakes of meat have started to pull away from each other, often in a row like the louvers on an air conditioning vent, you are probably ready to eat. I always let the surface turn a nice, crisp and toasty brown before I open the oven door.
- Transfer the finished filets to the plate and serve. The chicken bouillon and thyme bring a lot of flavor to the dish without losing any of the halibut’s character. It is a lean fish. Lemon juice is always nice, but it can wash away what little fat there is, so a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil works well here.
- Serve and enjoy!
