Almond Crusted Fish with Rice + Brussels

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Dairy Free
Gluten Free

Why we love it:

This is a lazy way to add a fancy touch by pressing the almond in with butter. Some of your almonds will fall off but that’s ok because we’ll turn them into a sauce in the pan to pour over top. You could take steps to more firmly attach them but that just sounds like more work! This dish is comfortable enough for a Wednesday and fancy enough for guests.

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Ingredients

3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (divided)
1 cup Basmati Rice (Brown)
2¹⁄₂ cups Water
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (divided)
1 pound Brussels Sprouts
1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (divided)
1 Lemon (zest and juice, divided)
1¹⁄₄ pounds Sole Filet (or any other white fish, aim for 1 filet per person)
¹⁄₂ cup Almonds (sliced)

Cooking Instructions

1. LET THE BUTTER SOFTEN TO ROOM TEMPERATURE
2. RICE

Bring the rice, water, and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a small pot with a fitted lid. Once boiling, stir well and turn down to low and cover. Simmer, untouched, for about 35 minutes or until the water has absorbed and rice is tender.
3. BRUSSELS

Trim the ends of the brussels and slice in ½. Reserve any leaves that fall off! Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high and melt 1 teaspoon of the butter and ½ of the olive oil. Add the brussels, including leaves, and arrange as many as you can with the cut side down so they caramelize. Add a pinch of salt and cook for about 4 minutes without moving them so they get nicely browned. Then stir and try to arrange any pieces that didn’t touch the pan before on the bottom, cut side down. Cook for another 4 minutes. Zest the lemon and add ½ to the brussels. Squeeze in ½ of the lemon juice and the pan will sizzle. Brussels should be tender but not falling apart. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. FISH

Lay fish out on a work surface and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Carefully divide about 2 Tablespoons of butter and spread evenly over the top of each filet of fish. Press the almonds into the butter so most of the fish is covered.
5. SEAR

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the other ½ of the olive oil. When hot, flip the fish into the pan with the almonds on the bottom touching the pan. Don’t move - sear for 4 minutes. Carefully get under the filet and flip to the other side. This is where some almonds will fall off, try and scoop some with a spoon or spatula and add them to the tops of the filets.

Cook the underside for about 2 - 4 minutes or until fish is just cooked through. Turn off the heat on the pan and remove fish to plates.

Squeeze the rest of the lemon into the pan so it sizzles. Add the remaining zest and last teaspoon of butter. Whisk or stir with a spatula to make sauce (if the butter doesn’t melt, turn the heat back on to low).
6. SERVING

Plate a scoop of rice, brussels and top with fish. Pour the butter sauce over the fish on plates.

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Substitutions

FISH:

you can use any thin white fish filet you have, even something like snapper would work, or something thicker like halibut is delicious, but if it’s thicker, cook longer over lower heat so it doesn't burn
BROWN RICE:

use white rice or quinoa to speed up this meal
MAKE THE ALMOND STICK:

annoyed by the almonds falling off? Or want to use less butter? Omit butter. Dust the top of the fish filets with a light layer of cornstarch. Whisk an egg white until frothy and press the cornstarch side of fish into the whites, then press the almonds on. This will adhere the almonds better. Finish the pan with lemon and butter still but you’ll use much less

Kid Friendly Version

How to Tweak This Recipe for Kids:

Slice the kids filet into skinny strips, like fish sticks. You can serve them a few almonds on the side to try. Serve their fish with a dipping sauce like ketchup, ranch, or pesto. You could also press their fish into fine breadcrumbs before searing to make a breaded fish stick. Serve with rice and brussels. If they won’t do brussels, give them one to try, or peel the leaves off of a brussels sprout. The crispy leaves are more attractive to some kids. Or serve everyone broccoli or a veggie they’ll try