A Fish Tale-Orange Honey Halibut

I have been thinking about that fish in my freezer for three days now, hence the title, A Fish Tale.  It was such a pretty piece of fish that I had to do something special rather than just bake it in some lemon and seasonings, although that is sometimes just as good as anything else. However, I'm trying to eat lean and ensure that I enjoy what I'm eating and that it isn't just a *chore* to eat healthy. 

Growing up so close and living close to the Gulf Coast, fish and seafood were always easy to come by. Any time I would go to the beach, when I would return home, I would hit the grocery and most of my "meat" take home was fish for a good month. I just love fish but sometimes it can be a little boring. I remember during the summer I was complaining on Facebook that now that I live in Idaho, the abundance of shrimp and the fish that I enjoy are not here. However, I got lucky a few weeks ago and learned that our local Butcher Block (the name of the store) also sells fish! I was a happy camper, particularly learning that all of the shrimp they carry is gulf shrimp and that she can get me anything I want. Since I was in a hurry that day, I settled for this beautiful piece of Ahi and a nice 1 lb. fillet of halibut. I've been trying to think of something to do with that fish but just never came up with something exciting. I mean, if you are trying to eat healthy you should at least look for low calorie ways to jazz up your food.

After looking through a bunch of the fish posts that I had pinned on Pinterest, I decided to come up with my own bastardized recipe (meaning I took ideas from several recipes). I came up with orange and honey marinade and on the side an orange/avocado (told you I loved them) salsa. Oh yeah, this was a good one! So, here's how it went and the recipe:

• 1/2 cup of orange juice (you can squeeze fresh, which is always nice, or use bought. If you use bought, stay away from anything that is concentrate, always go with 100% juice. I used the Trop50, so the orange juice for the marinade was only 25 calories). 
• 4 teaspoons raw honey (as I mentioned in my posting about tea, you want raw, local honey). Remember, honey is only 22 calories per teaspoon and since you are using it as a marinade, you aren't killing yourself with 88 calories) 
• 4 teaspoons of EVOO (that's extra virgin olive oil. You could also use coconut oil or grapeseed oil if you prefer. I like to use grapeseed but unfortunately, I only have olive in the kitchen right now). 
• 1 pound of halibut (Quite frankly, you can use any fresh you want but you want a nice meaty fish like salmon, grouper, etc). 

Mix the juice, honey and EVOO together and take my word for it, mix it in a bowl first. Usually when I create marinades, I just slosh it all together in the baggie but that honey will stick to the sides and you'll be cursing so take it from me, mix it in a bowl first THEN pour it in the baggie after you have dissolved the honey in the juice. Put the fish in, seal and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

The next part of this dish is a side of yummishness...orange/avocado salsa. So here's how that goes: 

• 1 1/2 large oranges (I used navel because I didn't want seeds and that's really all I had on hand). I sliced, peeled and then just cut into pieces. You might want to be a little more elegant than me and peel, separate the sections then slice. I just went for the slice and then peel method. 
• 1 avocado (cut into pieces...like I have to tell you that!)
• 1/4 cup of cilantro. (Always use fresh cilantro since you won't get that flavor burst from dried. Additionally, I like to *cut* my cilantro with scissors so I'm getting nice pieces of that wonderful herb)
• 1 teaspoon of EVOO
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (this did kick the salsa a little bit, but I like that kind of kick. You might want to use less or use cumin or chili powder instead. You just want a little seasoning to give it a little somethin', somethin'). 
• 1/4 cup of lime juice. 
• Optional: raw onion. (Yeah, if you read my earlier post, you know I do not like raw onion but for some folks, raw onion would be a nice addition. 

Mix all of this together and refrigerate while you are waiting for the fish to marinade. 

Heat the oven to 400 (after the fish has marinated an hour) and cook. Because the fish was as thick as it was, I cooked 25 minutes. I poured just a little of the marinade over the fish and lightly seasoned with sea salt. You don't want to put all of the marinade in with the fish since you don't want it swimming in marinade, even though fish like swimming...not as good for them while they are cooking! 

I chose to accompany my fish dish with asparagus. Nothing fancy, just used my Calphalon fajita pan and sauteed in a little EVOO and seasoned with Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt (Love that stuff since it has onion and garlic powder and a few other tasty herbs). 

Here is the final result. This is 1/2 of the halibut, so essentially, this recipe could serve two adults or you could add another side like saffron rice (that would probably be a very nice accompaniment, but alas I'm not eating rice right now) and get 4 smaller servings from the fish. After eating this salsa with this fish, I really don't think anything but I nice big, meaty white fish will work and lemme tell ya, this was as yummy as I thought it would be! 

Well, I'm off to think of something fun and healthy to cook tomorrow night since my grandkids are coming for a spend the night party. Hmmm, yep homework for me! 

Eat Fresh, Be Well (#eatfreshbewell)

--Kim