Mediterranean Fish Dinner for One

FeaturedRecipes

Jul 3

This Mediterranean fish dinner for one is so good. I love the rich flavors of oily, healthy foods coming together for a guilt-free, decadent meal.

I used to be completely uninterested in cooking. Growing up, my mother and her entire family ruled the kitchen. Holidays were split between our home, my uncle’s and aunt’s.

Each special day was drawn out like a royal celebration. The Champagne flowed early while the cooks swirled the kitchen preparing courses.

The appetizers were beautiful spectacles of artwork that we generously plucked from endless trays set up on side tables.

The main course was thoughtfully displayed on the table in a series of sizable serving dishes — precisely placed between table decor. Today, I would be getting high on a chair for a bird’s eye shot to add to my Instagram.

But despite how well my family went BIG, they also knew the importance of simplicity. Simple ingredients can make the most incredible meals.

While my sister proudly hovered over my mother’s shoulder to learn how to do everything from boil water to roast a whole chicken, or eagerly call up my grandmother at a tender age for the recipe to her prized red cabbage dish, I just wanted to eat.

And can you blame me? With all the fantastic cooks around me, who needs to learn?

Fast forward to college and my first apartment with my boyfriend, and my mother- and sister’s phones were ringing like they were working at a news station. I needed the recipes and I needed them now. I was out of my league. I didn’t even know how to make a grilled cheese.

To this day, my mother and sister can’t believe I can cook. Friends and neighbors call me incessantly for recipes or offer me up as the host.

I’ve found myself getting really complicated in the kitchen at times, and while I love to experiment and challenge myself, it can be exhausting, frustrating and fucking messy. I’ve found my true joy for a meal comes from intuition and instinct. What do I feel like? What sounds good? What taste is making my mouth water today?

Truthfully, this Mediterranean fish dinner for one was actually my lunch one day. But It was ridiculously filling and I realized it would be better off as a dinner!

For by-the-book cooks, you might be annoyed with my measurements. But trust your gut and use your eye!

Ingredients:

1 portion halibut (or other white fish)
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise, then halved across
Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Handful Kalamata olives, sliced in half
Handful arugula
1/2 cup quinoa
Handful pine nuts
Generous crumble of feta cheese
2 cloves garlic
Half a lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Let stand and keep covered when finished.
Add zucchini to a pot with water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and let stand, covered.
Wash and pat dry halibut.
Add salt, pepper and olive oil to pan over medium-high heat.
Add chopped garlic and sauté for two minutes.
Place halibut in pan, swirling it in the pan’s ingredients on both sides.
Squeeze lemon over one side and add salt and pepper to the top. Cook for 3-5 minutes then flip. Remove from heat.
Add zucchini to the quinoa pot. Swirl in some olive oil, salt and pepper, the arugula and pine nuts.
Place the mixture on a plate and top with the halibut.
Top the halibut with tomatoes, olives and feta cheese.

I love to cook my fish in a cast iron skillet. My favorite is Le Creuset’s cast iron skillet with an enamel interior.