Baked Halibut and Veggies with Quinoa
I’ve been preparing dinners in foil packets for a long time. It started when the kids were young and I had to get dinner on the table quickly. It is also makes it very easy to clean up afterwards. I’ve found some other benefits in addition to the moistness you get from a sealed pouch. When you cook in foil packets all the juices of whatever it is you are cooking are in the packet. If you don’t want to pour some of that goodness over the dish you just made. Do what I do and put the small amount of liquid into very small bowls or Asian dip bowls and freeze them. I do this same recipe with chicken breasts and always save the juices. I’ll use them to saute veggies, add to sauces or anything that needs a little flavor boost. I always save scraps of veggies while I’m cooking dinner, whether it’s the ends of carrots, onions, celery or garlic, I put them in a 1 gallon zip lock bag that stays in the freezer until I make stock.
Halibut and Veggies with Quinoa
Fresh Wild Halibut (Mine was 1/2 Lb, cooking for one and had leftovers for lunch)
Mushrooms – Sliced(Your choice)
Carrots – Sliced
Green Onions – Sliced
Red Bell Pepper – Sliced
For the halibut and Veggies:
Place the halibut in the center of a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil. Drizzle with Olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the sliced carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers. Feel free to freelance here with your seasonings. I’ll sometimes add a little garlic, ginger powder or fresh ginger, lemon zest or a little fresh lemon juice.
Fold the ends together lengthwise and fold them over to form a 1/2″ to seal, then fold the ends in to seal, creating a pocket with a few inches of headroom. The ends should be raised slightly so no juices run out during cooking. Usually the weight of the fish accomplishes this when pick it up by the ends and put it in the oven. Bake at 350 for about 21 minutes, depends on the amount and thickness of the fish.
Quinoa with cabbage, Red Bell Peppers and Green Onions
Quinoa – (As much as you need 🙂 – I was cooking for one, so it was a 1/4 Cup)
Red Bell Pepper – Sliced
Celery – Diced
Green Onions – Sliced
Red cabbage – Sliced
White cabbage – Sliced
Salt and pepper
Rinse the quinoa vigorously in a fine mesh strainer under cold water. This will reduce some of the bitterness. Quinoa is cooked 2 to 1, that is 2 cups of liquid to 1 cup of quinoa. One cup of dry quinoa with give you 3 cups of cooked quinoa. You can even toast the quinoa after rinsing for added flavor. A tiny bit of olive oil and toast the wet quinoa in a saute pan until water evaporates.
Here is a great place to use those frozen juices of past foil packets. Add them to your water or use a stock of your choice instead of water. I added the quinoa, celery, cabbages and red bell pepper to the boiling water, reduced the heat and covered to let simmer for 20 minutes. Add the green onions near the end so they still have a little bite to them, maybe the last 5 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Gently remove the fish and veggies from the packet, being careful of the hot steam when opening. Don’t puncture the foil or you’ll lose all the juices and create a mess.
Dinner on the table in 30 minutes and hardly a mess to clean…
Ciao.
