Wild Pacific Halibut Nioise Salad

By Ned Bell
nedbell.com

Chef’s Note:

This is a delicious and super simple summer recipe! 

The star ingredient is the Wild Pacific Halibut but equally important are the fresh tomatoes, salad greens, cooked green beans, and of course the tangy and savoury olive dressing.

What I love most about this recipe is how versatile it is. You could choose any cut of fresh Wild Pacific Halibut, salad greens, beans, or fresh asparagus. This salad is an assembly of the bounty of BC ingredients and can be served individually or family style.

 

INGREDIENTS

Wild Pacific Halibut:

  • 3-4 oz - Wild Pacific Halibut per person (Choose your favourite cut of Wild Pacific Halibut for this salad. I chose the Wild Pacific Halibut filet, but halibut cheeks or halibut steaks would be a fantastic choice as well.)

  • 2 Tbsp - olive oil

  • 1 Tbsp – butter

  • 1 – lemon

  • Salt to taste

Salad:

  • Fresh tomatoes (Always choose local tomatoes, such as BC Greenhouse grown, and choose multicolored to mix it up and add more colour to the plate.) 

  • 3-4 - black or green olives per person (I love castelvetrano olives.)

  • 2 cups - fresh salad greens per person (I like red leaf, romaine and butter lettuce, but any greens work.)

  • 1 - medium boiled egg per person (Make sure to boil for just 10 minutes in a pot of simmering water as I prefer my eggs medium boiled and ‘jammy’.)

  • 5-6 - green beans per person (blanched in a pot of salted boiling water for 30 seconds and then shocked in ice water)

  • 2-3 Tbsp - fresh herbs for garnish (dill, chives or parsley)

Black Olive Dressing:

  • 1 cup - extra virgin olive oil

  • ½ cup - apple cider vinegar

  • 1 Tbsp - Dijon mustard

  • 3 Tbsp - black olive tapenade

    Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl or put all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake until incorporated.


DIRECTIONS

How to Cook the Wild Pacific Halibut:

  1. Preheat a fry pan over medium high heat.

  2. Season the Wild Pacific Halibut with kosher or sea salt on all sides.

  3. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to the pan.

  4. Lay the fish in the pan and sear for 1 to 2 minutes.

  5. Flip the fish over and continue to cook for an additional 2 minutes until it is gently firm to the touch.

  6. Add 1 Tbsp of butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon.

  7. Baste the fish with the butter/lemon for 30 seconds, remove and serve.

Assembly:

  1. To build the salad lay all the ingredients out on the plate: greens, tomatoes, green beans, eggs, olives and the perfectly cooked Wild Pacific Halibut.

  2. Then generously spoon the dressing over all the ingredients. 

  3. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve!

Recipe copyright ©2023. All rights reserved. Featured with permission.

July 2023

This project is supported by the BC Government Buy BC Partnership Program: delivered by MNP with funding

from the Government of British Columbia.

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