Maple Orange Glazed Halibut

Tonight's dinner afforded me a very proud Mommy moment. My 3-year-old little girl completely cleaned her plate without any encouragement or prodding. Not that she's a bad eater - quite the opposite. Still, that she finished every morsel is really the best compliment I could get. And it feels particularly great that this meal was not at all "kid friendly"; that is, it didn't feature typical kid fare, like pasta, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc. Tonight's dinner was a wonderful example of just how much children can enjoy healthy, adult foods, if only we let them try them.

I don't typically buy Halibut. It's a very expensive fish. But last week, I saw some beautiful fresh wild Alaskan halibut steaks on sale for only $7.99/lb (Atlantic halibut should be avoided ... it's heavily overfished, and is therefore not a sustainable option). That's even less than I pay for my wild Alaskan Salmon, and that's frozen! I couldn't resist. It's a real treat for me. Halibut is a very sweet, moist, flaky fish. It's also very easy and quick to prepare, and needs very little adornment to make it special. Yum!

Maple Orange Glazed Halibut
1 lb. wild Pacific halibut steaks, cut into 3 portions (about 5 oz. each)
2 navel oranges
1 Tbsp. low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
pinch salt (optional)
safflower oil spray

Juice one of the oranges, and set juice aside. Zest the other orange, and set aside. Then supreme the second orange, reserving the supremes for garnish.

In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, orange zest, tamari, maple syrup, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and then reduce heat to medium low. Reduce the mixture down until it thickens a bit, enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Spray the skillet with safflower oil. Once the skillet is hot, reduce the heat to medium high. Add the halibut portions. Cook for 5 minutes on each side. Then brush the top with the maple orange glaze. Turn and glaze the other side, allowing the glazed fish to cook 1 more minute on each side. Remove from pan.

Garnish the steaks with the orange supremes. I served this with a quinoa pilaf and green beans with toasted almonds.

Serves 3.