Barramundi with Veracruz Sauce

I have been relying too much on standard dishes here lately (hence no recent posts), so today I decided I needed to break out of my rut. This dish is amazing—it’s clean, it’s light, it’s fresh and it’s absolutely perfect for a summer day.

Ingredients (serves 4):

Veracruz Sauce:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ cup red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid

10 pimento stuffed green olives, sliced in half

1 Tablespoon capers, drained

1 jalapeno pepper (or 2), seeded and diced (feel free to substitute pickled jalapenos or another type of pepper)

1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

2 springs of fresh thyme (or a bit of dried thyme)

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Barramundi:

4 Barramundi filets (or any other firm, white fish fillets—mine are about 1/3 of an inch thick)

Sea salt

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Toasted bread and fresh limes for garnish

Directions:

For the sauce: Heat the 2 T of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for a minute or two until just fragrant but not brown. Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes (the liquid should be almost evaporated and the sauce thickened). Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.

For the Barramundi:  Sprinkle the fish fillets with a little salt. In a clean skillet, heat the 1 T of olive oil over medium heat. Add the fillets and cook about 4 minutes per side or until lightly golden and the fish flakes when touched with a fork.

Put a fish fillet on each of two plates and spoon some of the sauce over. Serve with toasted bread for mopping up the juices and some fresh lime wedges to squeeze over the top.