Grilled Wild Snapper with Whipped Sweet Potato, Roasted Spring Vegetables, and Cilantro-Lime Oil
Grilled red snapper with crisp, smoky skin, served over a silky whipped sweet potato purée with roasted asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms, all drizzled with a bright cilantro-lime oil.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 30 min · Total: 50 min · Best in North America from late spring into early summer, when asparagus and the first zucchini overlap (sweet potatoes keep year-round) · Best eaten: early evening
Ingredients
Whipped sweet potato
2 lb sweet potatoes (about 3 medium)
2 tbsp grass-fed butter
¼–½ cup chicken bone broth, warm
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Squeeze of lime
Cilantro-lime oil
1 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems
Zest of 1 lime, plus 1 tbsp juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Roasted vegetables
1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off
2 medium zucchini, cut into thick half-moons
8 oz cremini or oyster mushrooms, halved or torn
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Snapper
4 skin-on wild red snapper fillets (about 6 oz each)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¾ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Zest of ½ lime
Method
Roast the sweet potatoes. Heat the oven to 425°F. Prick the sweet potatoes and roast them whole on a parchment-lined pan for 45–55 minutes, until very soft. Roasting (instead of boiling) concentrates their natural sweetness.
Roast the vegetables. In the last 25 minutes, toss the zucchini and mushrooms with the oil and half the salt and roast on a second pan for 10 minutes. Then add the asparagus with the remaining salt and roast 12–15 minutes more, until everything is tender and browned at the edges.
Make the cilantro-lime oil. Blend the cilantro, lime zest, olive oil, and salt until smooth, then stir in the lime juice. (Add the juice after blending to keep the oil greener longer.)
Whip the sweet potatoes. Scoop out the flesh and blend or whip it with the butter, salt, and enough broth to make it silky. Finish with a squeeze of lime.
Grill the snapper. Pat it completely dry, rub with the oil, and season with salt and lime zest. Oil the grill grates well and cook skin-side down over medium-high heat 4–5 minutes, without moving it, until the skin is crisp and releases easily. Flip and cook 2–3 minutes more, until it just flakes and reads about 135°F. (No grill? Sear it skin-side down in a hot cast iron skillet.)
Plate. Swoosh whipped sweet potato onto each plate, add the roasted vegetables, set the snapper on top skin-side up, and drizzle generously with cilantro-lime oil.
Storage: Snapper, up to 2 days refrigerated; whipped sweet potato and vegetables, up to 4 days; cilantro-lime oil, up to 3 days.
Nourishment Notes: Wild snapper brings lean complete protein, selenium, potassium, and B12. Sweet potatoes offer beta-carotene (made more absorbable with butter), vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Asparagus brings folate and inulin, a prebiotic fiber. Mushrooms offer ergothioneine and B vitamins. Zucchini adds potassium and vitamin C. Cilantro and lime bring chlorophyll, vitamin K, and vitamin C.
For your cycle: Sweet potatoes' steady carbohydrate is especially welcome in the luteal phase, and asparagus's folate supports every phase.
Sourcing
Red snapper — from a trusted fishmonger, ideally Gulf Wild tagged snapper from the Gulf of Mexico, which is individually traceable to the boat that caught it. Skip South Atlantic red snapper, which Seafood Watch lists as "avoid" because the stock hasn't recovered from overfishing. Red snapper is one of the most commonly mislabeled fish in the U.S., so buy from someone you trust
Sweet potatoes, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, cilantro, and limes — organic, from a farmers' market
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Chicken bone broth — homemade from pasture-raised chicken, or Bonafide Provisions (organic, sold frozen)
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall