Halibut, I Love You

I have been a hesitant seafood cook for a long time -- no more! I never want to buy fish that are more expensive than catfish or tilapia because I am always afraid I'll mess them up - I've generally opted to pay $20 to have a restaurant cook fish for me instead. Yesterday, however, I read an article about how to get a restaurant sear on your fish. My halibut turned out fantastic! I put a cast iron skillet on high with no oil for about 4 minutes to get it super-hot, then added some oil and slid in the halibut steak. When the steak looked like the bottom 2/3 was cooked I flipped it and let it continue cooking for about a minute. It came out lovely, with a nice crisp sear and soft and moist inside. I made a romesco sauce to go with it, this really surprisingly delicious German Potato Salad recipe from the WW website (we made it with tempeh bacon): http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=105401, kale with pickled scallions, and romaine hearts with walnut-parmesan vinagrette. Here are the romesco and walnut-parmesan vinagrette recipes:

Becky's Romesco - quantities are approximate

8 quarter-cup servings, 4 points per serving

4tbsp olive oil

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup fresh tomato

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cup hazelnuts

1 slice bread or 1/2 pita

1 very large clove garlic

1/2 to 1 tsp hot red pepper flakes

2/3 cup roasted red peppers

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

salt, black pepper

Put the nuts in a food processor first and grind them. Then, add everything else and puree it together. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for about twenty minutes. Add more seasoning to taste.

Walnut-Parmesan Vinagrette -- 6 points per serving :(

1/4 cup walnut oil

1/8 cup sherry vinegar

1/4 cup grated/shaved parmesan

1/4 cup walnuts

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt & black pepper

Put it all in a food processor and pulse. We had baby romaine hearts from the farmer's market, and we cut one in half and drizzled about 1 1/2 tbsp of the dressing over each half. Then, we threw on a little more shaved parmesan and just ate them whole like celery sticks. Yum.