It’s Spring now apparently so along with some brief fine spells of weather we have some beautiful citrus fruit in season. So when the weather allows head outside and fire up the bbq. This recipe is fresh and achievable and can be mostly prepared in advance with the cooking all done on the bbq if you like. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/
Pan Fried Fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Asparagus, Citrus Herb Crumb
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4pc Fish fillets (600g approx)
4 handfuls asparagus (300g approx)
Salt and Pepper
Citrus Herb Crumb
2 Bread rolls (stale ones are the best!)
Zest of 2 Oranges
6Tbs Olive Oil
2-3Tbs Orange Juice
50g Whole Almonds
1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)
2 Small handfuls Rocket (25g approx)
Salt and Pepper
Orange Avocado Salad
2-4 Oranges (zested and segmented, keeping all the juice)
1 Avocado (chunky dice)
6 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)
4 Small handfuls Rocket (50g approx)
Salt and Pepper
Orange Dressing
Juice of 2 oranges (use the cores left over from making the salad segments)
4Tbs Olive Oil
Method:
For the Citrus Herb Crumb:
Rip up the bread rolls into small chunks. Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and everything is chopped up into a coarse crumb, don’t make it too fine you want to see all the bits. Spread out onto an oven tray and bake at 150C for 15mins taking it out half way through and give it a stir so it cooks evenly. Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
For the Orange Avocado Salad:
Zest the oranges using a zester (keep the zest for the crumb) and remove the skin ensuring to cut away all the white pith as this is bitter and we don’t want to use it. Segment the oranges and squeeze the remaining orange core into a bowl to collect the juice to use for the dressing. Combine all the salad ingredients except the rocket as well as all the dressing ingredients in a bowl together. When ready to serve toss through the rocket at the last minute so it stays fresh and doesn’t wilt.
To Serve:
Drizzle the asparagus with a little cooking oil and season with some salt and pepper and grill on the bbq until tender. Do the same with the fish fillets and either grill on the grill plate of the bbq or in a fry pan over medium to high heat, cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish but a good guide for most fish fillets is about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked all the way through but try not to over cook the fish or it can go dry. Toss the rocket through the salad and build up all the ingredients on plates and serve with some aioli if you like.
