Herb-poached Halibut

You know how sometimes you feel you’ve been eating too much junk and heavy food and you crave something light, say, like fish. That’s how I felt yesterday. So I grabbed two fresh halibut fillets from the fish department in my neighbourhood grocery store to make a light Wednesday night meal.

I wanted to keep this dish simple. I had a few leftover herbs in the fridge, so I decided to throw them all in a pan with water. Letting the rosemary, dill, thyme, cilantro and mint infuse the simmering water for half an hour created a waft of soothing gardeny scent that floated all over my kitchen. When the aroma became more intense, I knew it was time to gently slide in the fillets in the court boullion. I cooked the fish at a low simmer – it keeps fish soft and lets the flavour slowly permeate into the flesh.

I served the halibut on a bed of pan-fried sliced zucchini and topped it with a cucumber-tomato salsa. The fish was very delicate in texture and flavour and I could really taste the fine balance of herbs – not one overpowered the others. Not bad for Wednesday!