Wild Halibut with Avocado Sauce and Spring Vegetables

Golden-seared wild halibut with a cool, silky avocado sauce, served with a bright sauté of asparagus, sugar snap peas, and sweet English peas with mint and lemon, plus butter-roasted radishes. A fresh celebration of spring.

Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 30 min · Total: 35 min · Best in North America in spring, when asparagus, peas, and radishes are at their peak and the wild Pacific halibut season opens (roughly March through November) · Best eaten: midday or early evening

Ingredients

Avocado sauce

• 1 large ripe avocado

• Juice of 1 lemon (or lime)

• ¼ cup fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, or a mix)

• 1 small garlic clove

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• 3–5 tbsp cold water, to thin

Butter-roasted radishes

• 1 bunch radishes (about 12), halved

• 1 tbsp grass-fed butter, melted

• Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt

Spring vegetable sauté

• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends snapped off, cut into 2-inch pieces

• 1 cup sugar snap peas, trimmed

• 1 cup fresh English peas (or frozen)

• 2 spring onions or 4 scallions, sliced

• 1 tbsp grass-fed butter and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• Zest of ½ lemon

• 2 tbsp fresh mint, torn

• ½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

Halibut

• 4 wild Pacific halibut fillets (about 6 oz each)

• ¾ tsp Baja Gold sea salt

• 1 tbsp ghee

Method

1. Roast the radishes. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss them with the butter and salt and roast cut-side down 15–20 minutes, until golden and tender.

2. Make the avocado sauce. Blend everything until silky and pourable, adding water as needed. Press plastic or beeswax wrap onto its surface until serving to keep it bright green.

3. Sear the halibut. Pat it completely dry and season with salt. Sear in hot ghee over medium-high heat 3–4 minutes, until golden, then flip and cook 2–3 minutes more, until it just flakes and reads about 130°F.

4. Sauté the spring vegetables. Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook 2 minutes, then the snap peas and spring onions for 2 minutes, then the English peas for 1 minute more, until everything is bright green and tender-crisp. Off the heat, toss with the lemon zest, mint, and salt.

5. Plate. Spoon a pool of avocado sauce onto each plate, set the halibut on top, and pile the spring vegetables and roasted radishes alongside.

Storage: Halibut, up to 2 days refrigerated; avocado sauce, 1 day; vegetables, up to 3 days.

Nourishment Notes: Wild halibut brings lean complete protein, selenium, magnesium, and B12. Avocado offers monounsaturated fats, potassium, and folate. Asparagus brings folate and inulin, a prebiotic fiber. Peas offer protein, fiber, and vitamin C. Radishes bring vitamin C and glucosinolates. Mint adds menthol, traditionally used to soothe digestion.

For your cycle: Asparagus and avocado's folate and halibut's magnesium make this a lovely plate for every phase, and especially the follicular phase, when lighter, fresher foods feel best.

Sourcing

• Halibut — wild Pacific halibut from Alaska or British Columbia, from Vital Choice or a trusted fishmonger. Skip Atlantic halibut, which Seafood Watch lists as "avoid"

• Avocado, asparagus, peas, radishes, spring onions, herbs, garlic, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market in spring

• Grass-fed butter and ghee — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows; Ancient Organics ghee

• Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass

• Baja Gold sea salt

— Anna aka Food Marshall