Pan-Seared Trout with Caramelized Onions, Garden Herb Salad, Ricotta, Figs, and Roasted Squash
Rainbow trout pan-seared with caramelized onions, butter, and herbs, served over a garden herb salad with arugula, ricotta, toasted pumpkin seeds, figs, and seasonal roasted squash, with a creamy sour cream dressing.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 35 min · Total: 50 min · Year-round, with summer squash and fresh figs from June through September, and winter squash and dried fruit from October through May · Cuisine: Farm-to-table, Mediterranean · Best eaten: midday or early evening
This is a farm dinner on one plate: rainbow trout seared until the skin is crisp, then finished with sweet caramelized onions, herbs, and a spoonful of sour cream, served warm over a big salad of arugula, tender lettuces, kale, and fresh herbs. Dollops of ricotta, toasted pumpkin seeds, figs, and roasted squash make the salad hearty enough to stand on its own, and a creamy sour cream dressing ties it all together. Rich, warm fish meets a cool, bright salad and a creamy, tangy dressing.
The salad shifts with the seasons. In summer, it’s roasted zucchini and fresh figs; in fall and winter, roasted butternut or delicata squash with dried figs, tart cherries, or golden raisins.
Ingredients
Trout
4 rainbow trout or steelhead fillets (5–6 oz each, skin on)
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp grass-fed butter
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp ground fennel seed
¼ cup sour cream (cultured or raw)
Juice of 1 lemon
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
Optional: chopped fresh dill or chives, to finish
Roasted squash, by season
Summer: 2 medium zucchini or yellow summer squash, cut into thick half-moons
Fall and winter: 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed, or 2 delicata squash, seeded and sliced into half-moons (no need to peel)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted grass-fed ghee
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
Garden herb salad
4 cups arugula
1 head butter lettuce, torn
1 cup lacinato kale, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup fresh basil or mint, torn
A handful of watercress or baby red chard
½ cup homemade ricotta
¼ cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
Fruit, by season: 4 fresh figs, quartered (summer and early fall), or ⅓ cup dried figs, tart cherries, or golden raisins (fall through spring)
Optional: 1 crisp apple or pear, thinly sliced
Sour cream dressing
½ cup sour cream (cultured or raw)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pasture-raised egg yolk (optional; see the note below)
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut aminos
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp ground turmeric
Baja Gold sea salt and black pepper
Swaps:
Fish: wild salmon, arctic char, or branzino
Dairy-free: Replace the sour cream with full-fat coconut cream plus 1 tsp lemon juice (let it stand 5 minutes to thicken), and skip the ricotta or use a cashew ricotta.
Tropical greens: If you live somewhere warm, a small handful of young hibiscus leaves or katuk is a lovely addition; otherwise, watercress, red chard, or baby mustard greens bring the same peppery edge.
Method
Roast the squash. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the squash with the oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan, turning once, until golden and tender: 15–20 minutes for summer squash, or 25–30 minutes for butternut or delicata.
Caramelize the onions. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook 20–25 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden and jammy. Add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme for the last 2 minutes.
Toast the pumpkin seeds. Toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3–4 minutes, until they puff and start to pop.
Make the dressing. Whisk all the dressing ingredients until creamy and emulsified.
Massage the kale. Massage the chopped kale with a pinch of salt and a spoonful of the dressing for 1 minute, until it softens.
Season the trout. Pat the trout dry, and season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and ground fennel.
Sear the trout. Push the onions to the side of the pan, and raise the heat to medium-high. Lay the fillets skin-side down and sear 3–4 minutes, without moving them, until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip carefully, and cook 1–2 minutes more, until the fish just flakes (145°F at the thickest point).
Finish the pan sauce. Take the pan off the heat. Gently stir the sour cream and lemon juice into the onions (off the heat, so the sour cream doesn’t split), and spoon it over the fish.
Toss the salad. Toss the arugula, lettuce, kale, herbs, and watercress with most of the dressing.
Plate. Mound the salad on each plate, and tuck in the roasted squash and figs. Add dollops of ricotta, and scatter the pumpkin seeds on top. Set the trout alongside, with the onions and pan sauce spooned over. Drizzle with the rest of the dressing, and finish with dill or chives.
A note on raw egg and raw dairy: The raw egg yolk gives the dressing its silky body, but it’s optional (the dressing is a little thinner without it). If you’re pregnant or serving young children, use a pasteurized egg or skip it, and use cultured (pasteurized) sour cream. Once warmed in the pan sauce, raw sour cream is no longer raw.
Storage
Best eaten the day it’s made. Leftover trout keeps 1 day in the fridge; flake it cold over greens with a squeeze of lemon for lunch.
The dressing keeps 3 days in the fridge (2 days with the raw egg yolk).
Roasted squash keeps 4 days in the fridge.
For a crowd: For 6, double the recipe and use two pans. For 8 or more, roast the trout on a sheet pan at 425°F for 8–10 minutes, instead of searing it.
Nourishment Notes
Rainbow trout — one of the most nourishing freshwater fish, rich in EPA and DHA omega-3s, vitamin D, B12, and selenium. Farmed trout get their pink color from astaxanthin in their feed, an antioxidant studied for protecting the eyes and skin. U.S.-farmed trout, raised in clean, cold spring water, is one of the best-rated farmed fish. “Steelhead” is the same species (Oncorhynchus mykiss), in its sea-run form.
Arugula, kale, watercress, and red chard — vitamin K1, folate, calcium, glucosinolates, and carotenoids, with a peppery bitterness that balances the rich fish and dressing.
Fresh herbs — parsley, cilantro, and basil or mint add vitamins K and C and a wide range of aromatic polyphenols.
Summer squash — vitamin C, potassium, and lutein, light and hydrating for warm months.
Winter squash — beta-carotene, which your body turns into vitamin A (better absorbed with the dressing’s fat), plus potassium and fiber.
Fresh figs — potassium, calcium, magnesium, and fiber, plus ficin, an enzyme behind figs’ traditional reputation for easing digestion.
Dried fruit — concentrated minerals and fiber, plus polyphenols in tart cherries.
Pumpkin seeds — magnesium and zinc, two minerals many people run low on.
Ricotta and sour cream — calcium, protein, and fat-soluble vitamins. Cultured or raw sour cream brings lactic acid bacteria (as long as it isn’t heated).
Egg yolk — choline and lecithin, which help emulsify the dressing and support the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
Turmeric — curcumin, better absorbed with the dressing’s fat and black pepper.
As a circadian food, this is a satisfying midday meal or early dinner: omega-3s, protein, and a big plate of greens, light enough that it won’t weigh you down in the evening.
For your cycle: The omega-3s and vitamin D support mood and calm inflammation, the greens’ folate and fiber support estrogen balance, and the pumpkin seeds’ zinc and magnesium make this especially good in the luteal phase. It’s lovely in every phase.
Sourcing
Rainbow trout or steelhead — U.S.-farmed in clean, cold water, from Idaho or a local trout farm, or wild-caught if you or a friend fish
Squash, greens, herbs, figs, apples, onions, garlic, and lemons — organic, from a farmers’ market
Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, from 100% grass-fed cows
Sour cream — cultured and grass-fed, like Straus or Kalona SuperNatural, or raw from a local farm
Ricotta — homemade, or a local creamery’s fresh ricotta
Pumpkin seeds — organic, from a source like Living Intentions
Dried fruit — organic, unsulfured, and unsweetened
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm
Raw apple cider vinegar — organic, with the mother (Bragg)
Coconut aminos — organic and soy-free, like Coconut Secret
Dijon mustard — organic, like Delouis Fils or Maison Orphée
Spices — organic and non-irradiated
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall