Kūmara, Cauliflower and Fennel Citrus Salad with Seasoned Fish

The juicy flesh of fish works so well here with the zingy, citrus flavoured kūmara and cauliflower salad.

As a stickler for pan-frying fish in butter, I have done so but you could use a little olive oil or a mixture of both butter and oil.

Loaded Kūmara

You need to balance flavours in this recipe. Squeezing over lime or lemon juice adds acidity, along with the sumac, and red chilli flakes add heat, with the fresh herbs adding freshness. Adding salt will balance acidity.

SERVES 4

4 small-medium orange kūmara (each weighing about 200g), scrubbed olive oil for drizzling salt

1 cup pearl barley (available at Vetro)

1 small red onion

1 tsp sumac (available at Vetro)

½ telegraph cucumber, cut in half lengthwise (seeds removed, optional), and thinly sliced

2 oranges, segmented and juice collected juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon, or more to taste a good pinch of dried red chilli flakes

1 handful each of mint leaves, parsley leaves and coriander leaves, torn if large

Heat the oven to 200°C. Line a shallow roasting dish with baking paper and put in the kūmara. Prick each one with a small sharp knife a couple of times. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Put in the oven and roast for 40–45 minutes until completely tender. Remove from the oven and using the base of a small saucepan, smash each kūmara to flatten a little. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pearl barley in boiling water for 20–25 minutes until tender. Drain well and leave to cool a little before transferring to a large bowl.

Very finely slice the red onion and put in a small bowl. Add the sumac and toss well.

When the kūmara are ready, add the cucumber slices, orange segments, about 2 tablespoons of the collected juice, lime or lemon juice, chilli flakes and herbs to the pearl barley. Drizzle in a little olive oil and gently toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Put the kūmara on 4 plates and top with pearl barley salad. (Any extra salad can be served separately or kept in the fridge for the following day.) Top with the red onion slices.

Kathy Paterson www.kathypaterson.co.nz

Kathy Paterson is a recipe developer, food stylist and photographer. A plentiful herb garden and a trial and error vegetable garden give Kathy the starting place for her recipes along with her love of the classics with a modern twist.

SERVES 4

600–700g firm-fleshed fish, such as blue cod, cut into thick strips (just like chicken tenderloins) butter for pan-frying

SEASONING MIX

2 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds

2 tsp bittersweet smoked paprika (available at The Herbal Dispensary, Raglan and Vetro) salt and pepper finely grated zest of 1 lemon or large lime

SALAD + DRESSING

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

1 tbsp sherry vinegar (available at La Cave and Vetro) or use white wine vinegar and a little honey to sweeten

1 tsp Dijon mustard salt

500g red kūmara, lightly peeled and cut into about 3cm wedges or pieces

400–500g cauliflower, broken into small florets

1 fennel bulb with fennel fronds, trimmed

1 lemon or lime, segmented, optional a few sprigs of coriander

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients and set aside.

To make the dressing, put the oil, lemon or lime juice, sherry vinegar, mustard and a good few pinches of salt in a clean screw top jar. Shake well and taste. Adjust acidity if needed or if too sharp, add more salt.

Put the kūmara in a saucepan with enough lightly salted water to cover and cook until tender, 12–15 minutes. Drain well, put in a bowl then drizzle over enough dressing to moisten and gently toss to coat. Set aside.

Steam the cauliflower florets until tender to the bite or cook in a little lightly salted boiling water. Drain well and add to the kūmara.

With a mandolin (otherwise use a very sharp knife), slice the fennel bulb paper thin and place onto a serving plate. Scatter over the kūmara and cauliflower and the lemon or lime segments, if using. Roughly chop a few leafy fennel fronds and scatter over before drizzling with enough dressing to moisten.

Rub the seasoning mix into both sides of the fish strips.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add a good knob of butter and when it sizzles place in the fish strips, in batches, so not to overcrowd the pan. Pan-fry for about 4 minutes, turning once. Try not to get the pan too hot as you don’t want to burn the spices. If necessary, wipe out the pan with kitchen paper before adding a little more butter and the next batch. Put fish on top of the salad and drizzle with a little more dressing and a few more chopped leafy fennel fronds. Finish with coriander sprigs.

Tip

When pan-frying fish, remove the fish from the pan just before it is completely cooked as it will continue to cook more in its own heat.