A Really Nice Fish with Cucumber and Crunchy Garlic Salad

Name: A Really Nice Fish with Cucumber and Crunchy Garlic Salad
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 2 lb Arctic Char (1 2-pound filet arctic char, salmon, steelhead trout, cod, haddock, or halibut, skin-on or off); 0 pieces Kosher Salt (Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper); 0 pieces Red Pepper Flakes (Crushed red pepper flakes, optional + Crushed red pepper flakes) — optional; 1 piece Lemon (1 lemon, half thinly sliced, seeds removed; half reserved for serving); 1 ½ cup Olive Oil (1 to 1 ½ cups olive oil — up to 1.5 + ½ cup olive oil); 6 pieces Persian Cucumber (6 Persian cucumbers, or 2 hothouse cucumbers); 6 cloves Garlic (6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped); ½ tsp Ground Turmeric (½ teaspoon ground turmeric); 1 tsp Sea Salt (1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for seasoning); 2 pieces Scallion (2 scallions or 1 shallot, thinly sliced); 3 tbsp White Wine Vinegar (3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or rice wine vinegar, plus more to taste); ½ cup Herbs (½ cup fresh mixed herbs, such as dill, mint, cilantro and parsley, coarsely chopped)

Oven-roasted arctic char served at room temperature with a smashed Persian cucumber salad and crunchy garlic-turmeric oil.

Mediterranean

Servings4

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Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Pescatarian

Ingredients

For 4 servings

Arctic Char2 lb · 1 2-pound filet arctic char, salmon, steelhead trout, cod, haddock, or halibut, skin-on or off
Kosher Salt0 pieces · Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Red Pepper Flakes0 pieces · Crushed red pepper flakes, optional + Crushed red pepper flakes · optional
Lemon1 piece · 1 lemon, half thinly sliced, seeds removed; half reserved for serving
Olive Oil1 ½ cup · 1 to 1 ½ cups olive oil — up to 1.5 + ½ cup olive oil
Persian Cucumber6 pieces · 6 Persian cucumbers, or 2 hothouse cucumbers
Garlic6 cloves · 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Ground Turmeric½ tsp · ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
Sea Salt1 tsp · 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more for seasoning
Scallion2 pieces · 2 scallions or 1 shallot, thinly sliced
White Wine Vinegar3 tbsp · 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or rice wine vinegar, plus more to taste
Herbs½ cup · ½ cup fresh mixed herbs, such as dill, mint, cilantro and parsley, coarsely chopped

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Steps

1Make the fish: Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Place the fish in a baking dish approximately the same size as the fish (standard 1 ½-2 quart baking dish is fine– sheet pan also works in a pinch, you’ll just use less olive oil). Season the top of the fish with salt, pepper, and a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes if you’re using. Arrange the sliced lemon over the fish in a dreamy scattered pattern or perfect Virgo shingles. Pour the olive oil until it reaches about halfway up the thickest part of the fish (start with 1 cup, add more as needed- remember, you can reuse this oil! Don’t be shy) and season again with salt and pepper.
2Place the fish in the oven and slowly roast until the fish goes from dark pink and translucent to a lighter more peachy pink, and is just cooked through in the center, 12-15 minutes (could be longer for especially thick filets, slightly shorter for thinner pieces. Your best way to tell the doneness of the fish is by change of color and texture- rare/raw fish will be deeper in color and soft/squishy to the touch, well done fish will be light/paler pink and firm/bouncy to the touch). Remove from oven and set aside while you make your sides (this fish never gets hot and that’s the point– it’s great at room temperature, so don’t worry about it sitting for a bit).
3Make the cucumber salad: Cut the cucumbers into 1-inch chunks, then gently smash them using the side of your knife until they split. Transfer to a medium bowl and season with salt, then set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad. You can also place the cucumbers in a large resealable plastic bag and season with salt. Using a heavy skillet, rolling pin, or anything heavy, smash the cucumbers until they split and explode a bit, pick your pleasure! Let them sit a few minutes to release some of that water and season deeply.
4Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, swirling the pot occasionally, until the garlic is sizzling loudly and looks (and smells) delightfully toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, then add a generous pinch of pepper flakes, turmeric, and season with salt. Swirl the pot to toast and bloom the spices. Set aside.
5Drain the cucumbers, discarding any liquid. Combine the cucumbers, most of the scallions, and vinegar in a large serving bowl. Season with salt, pepper, and more vinegar if needed. Add most of the dill and toss to combine. Drizzle with the toasted garlic oil, letting it run into the tiny scraggly bits, then finish with more scallion and dill.
6Break up the fish with a large spoon and transfer to a serving plate. Spoon some of the cooking oil over the top, and finish with flaky salt, cracked pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and the juice of the other half of the lemon.
7DO AHEAD: Fish can be made an hour or so ahead, but if storing for longer you’ll want to refrigerate it. I haven’t found a good way to reheat fish, to which I say: Eat it cold, it’s perfect.
8Cucumbers can be smashed a few hours ahead, draining and seasoning before serving. Crunchy garlic and turmeric oil can be made 2 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated; bring to room temperature before using.