Pan-Roasted Fish with Avocado-Pineapple Salsa

Pink Parsley is one of my absolute, all time favorite food blogs. Everything Josie makes is absolutely beautiful, and the recipes I've made of hers have all been delicious.

She blogged about this pan-roasted fish while we were on our honeymoon, and I quickly starred it to make at home. Her photos are beautiful, and I thought that if this tasted as good as it looked, I would have a winner on my hands.

Well... unfortunately while this dinner was very good, it was not as wonderful as I hoped it would be. I made an adaption... well, more of an omission... to the salsa, and maybe if I had kept it the same it would have worked better for me. But I just couldn't bear the thought of throwing raw onion into the salsa. The purple from the red onion would have been pretty with the other colors, but I HATE raw onion. I do my damnedest to pick it out of pico de gallo in my burrito bowl at Chipotle, so I just didn't see the point. I also thought the flavors in the salsa were kind of fighting for dominance, and didn't combine very well. Some bites of the salsa were delicious, other bites were just a little strange. I'm not sure how to describe it.

Pan-Roasted Fish with Avocado-Pineapple Salsa

(Recipe taken from Pink Parsley; salsa originally adapted from Everyday Food, January/February 2012)

Ingredients:

• 2 avocados, diced in 1/2 inch cubes.
• 2 cup finely diced fresh pineapple
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely diced (the heat comes from the ribs and seeds, so remove those!)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• juice & zest of 2 limes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 pieces of halibut (or any other white fish)
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the pineapple, jalapeno, cilantro, avocado, and lime juice. Toss gently to combine ingredients. Make sure the avocado is coated in lime juice to keep it from browning. Season with salt and pepper to taste and refridgerate.
3. Make sure the fish is very dry, and season well with salt & pepper.
4. Heat the oil in an oven safe pan, and carefully place the fish in. Let them cook, unbothered, for 2 minutes. Flip them over very carefully and let cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side.
5. Put the pan in the pre-heated oven and let cook for 5 minutes (depending on the hickness of the fish) or until it flakes easily with the fork.
6. Plate the fish, and top with the salsa.

We served this on a bed of quinoa, and ate along side a side salad.

Remove the pan from heat and transfer it to the oven. Cook 5-7 minutes, or until the fish is opaque throughout and flakes easily with a fork. The cooking time will vary based on the thickness of the fish, so start checking it around 4-5 minutes.

To serve, top each piece of fish with salsa.