Crispy-Skin Rainbow Trout with Lemon-Dill Cream Sauce, Roasted Roots, and Wilted Greens
Rosy rainbow trout seared until the skin is shatteringly crisp, served over a silky lemon-dill cream sauce with jewel-toned roasted purple potatoes, carrots, and radishes, a tangle of wilted kale and finely shaved Brussels sprouts, and a crunchy hazelnut-herb crumble on top.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 45 min · Total: 1 hour · Best in North America from fall through spring, when kale, Brussels sprouts, radishes, and carrots are at their sweetest · Best eaten: early evening
Your Game Plan
About 1 hour out: Heat the oven to 425°F. The potatoes go in.
About 50 min out: The carrots go in. Make the nut crumble.
About 35 min out: The radishes go in.
About 20 min out: Make the cream sauce and keep it warm.
About 15 min out: Sauté the Brussels sprouts and kale.
About 8 min out: Sear the trout.
Ingredients
Trout
4 rainbow trout or steelhead fillets, skin-on (about 6 oz each)
1 tsp Baja Gold sea salt
2 tbsp grass-fed ghee
Lemon wedges, to serve
Roasted roots
1 lb purple potatoes, cut into wedges
3 rainbow carrots, cut into sticks
1 bunch radishes, halved (or quartered if large)
3 tbsp grass-fed ghee or tallow, melted, divided
1 tsp Baja Gold sea salt, divided
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Lemon-dill cream sauce
1 tbsp grass-fed butter
1 shallot, finely minced
¼ cup dry white wine or chicken bone broth
¾ cup raw or grass-fed heavy cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1–2 tsp fresh lemon juice, plus the zest of ½ lemon
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Dairy-free option: Use full-fat coconut cream (with no guar gum) in place of the heavy cream.
Wilted kale and shaved Brussels sprouts
2 cups Brussels sprouts, very finely shaved
1 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed, leaves thinly sliced
1 tbsp grass-fed ghee
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt and a squeeze of lemon
Hazelnut-herb crumble
⅓ cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Zest of ½ lemon
1 small garlic clove, grated
Pinch of flaky salt
Or use dukkah: Swap the crumble for my pistachio dukkah from my Farm-to-Table Roasted Root Vegetables with Labneh, Dukkah, and Mint Gremolata.
To garnish: fresh dill fronds and lemon wedges
Method
Roast the roots. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the potato wedges with 1 tbsp ghee and ⅓ tsp salt and roast cut-side down 30–35 minutes. Toss the carrots with 1 tbsp ghee, ⅓ tsp salt, and thyme on a second pan, and add them 10 minutes after the potatoes. Toss the radishes with the remaining ghee and salt, and add them to the carrot pan for the last 20 minutes. Roast until everything is golden and tender, flipping once.
Make the crumble. Roughly chop the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds, and toss them with the parsley, lemon zest, garlic, and flaky salt.
Make the cream sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook the shallot 2–3 minutes, until soft. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the cream and Dijon and simmer gently 3–4 minutes, until it lightly coats a spoon. Off the heat, stir in the dill, lemon juice and zest, and salt. Keep it warm over the lowest heat.
Sauté the greens. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shaved Brussels sprouts and salt and cook 3–4 minutes, until bright green and lightly browned in spots. Add the kale and garlic and toss 1–2 minutes, until just wilted. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.
Sear the trout. Pat the fillets completely dry, especially the skin, and season with salt. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Lay the fillets skin-side down, pressing gently with a spatula for the first 30 seconds so the skin stays flat. Cook 3–4 minutes, until the skin is crisp and the flesh is opaque most of the way up, then flip and cook 30–60 seconds more, just until it flakes. Trout is thin and delicate, so it cooks quickly.
Plate. Spoon a pool of cream sauce onto each plate. Add the greens and roasted roots, set the trout on top, skin-side up, so it stays crisp, and scatter with the hazelnut crumble or dukkah, dill, and a lemon wedge.
Storage: Trout, up to 2 days refrigerated; roasted roots and greens, up to 4 days; cream sauce, up to 3 days (rewarm gently); crumble, up to 1 week in a jar.
Nourishment Notes
Rainbow trout — complete protein, omega-3s (EPA and DHA), vitamin D, B12, and selenium, plus astaxanthin, the carotenoid behind its rosy color. Trout is also one of the lowest-mercury fish.
Purple potatoes — anthocyanins, potassium, and vitamin C. Cooled leftovers form resistant starch.
Rainbow carrots and radishes — beta-carotene, plus glucosinolates and vitamin C in the radishes.
Kale and Brussels sprouts — glucosinolates, vitamins K and C, and folate.
Hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds — vitamin E, manganese, zinc, and magnesium.
Cream and grass-fed butter — vitamins A, D, and K2.
Dill, parsley, and lemon — vitamin C, vitamin K, and aromatic compounds.
For your cycle: The trout's omega-3s help calm inflammation and menstrual cramps, and the kale and Brussels sprouts support estrogen metabolism through Phase 2 liver detoxification, making this supportive in every phase.
Sourcing
Trout — U.S. farmed rainbow trout (a Seafood Watch Best Choice), or wild or responsibly farmed steelhead, from a trusted fishmonger
Purple potatoes, rainbow carrots, radishes, kale, Brussels sprouts, shallot, garlic, herbs, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market
Heavy cream — raw from a farmer you know and trust, or organic, grass-fed, low-temperature pasteurized cream (Kalona SuperNatural); or organic coconut cream with no guar gum
Dry white wine — organic and dry, low in added sulfites (or chicken bone broth, homemade or Bonafide Provisions)
Dijon mustard — organic, with no preservatives or sugar; Delouis Fils or Maison Orphée
Hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds — organic Oregon hazelnuts and organic raw pumpkin seeds, kept in the fridge
Grass-fed butter, ghee, and tallow — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows; grass-fed ghee; tallow rendered from grass-fed suet
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall