Swordfish with Lemon Caper Butter
and couscous / sauteed vegetables
Swordfish has a hearty texture and mild flavor, which holds up well to a rich compound butter. Spoon the butter over top of the fish while it's still hot so that it melts over the entire filet.
Smarts: You can speed up the cooking time by cooking fish and vegetables in two pans at the same time or just use one pan and wipe it out in between to minimize dishes.
Ingredients
- Garlic - 1 clove, chopped
- Capers - 1 Tbsp, chopped
- Lemon zest - 1 tsp
- Butter - 4 Tbsp
- Fish, swordfish - 4 filets (sub fresh tuna, pork chops, or steak)
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Carrots - 1 lb, diced
- Green beans - 1 lb, diced
- Basil - 8 leaves, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Water - 1 Tbsp
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
- Stock, any type - 1 cup, sub water
- Salt - 1/4 tsp
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Couscous, uncooked - 3/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
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Make couscous - Combine stock, salt, and butter (portion for couscous) in a saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in couscous and cover with lid. Let stand for ~5 minutes before fluffing with a fork. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Carrots / Green beans - Chop carrots and green beans into roughly the same sized pieces and combine. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Make lemon caper butter - Finely chop garlic and capers. Combine with lemon zest. Soften butter (portion for lemon caper butter) in the microwave and stir in garlic, capers, and lemon zest. (If using unsalted butter, add some salt.) (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Basil - Chop basil.
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Fish - Rinse and pat dry. Season with some salt and pepper.
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Make
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Heat a skillet with oil (portion for vegetables) over medium-high heat. Add carrots and green beans and saute for 2 minutes to get them started cooking. Add water and cover pan with a lid. Steam vegetables with the lid on until nearly tender, ~3 minutes.
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Remove lid and continue cooking vegetables until all of the liquid has cooked off and the vegetables are tender.
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Season vegetables with some salt. Transfer to a serving plate or bowl and stir in basil and lemon juice. Set aside, covered, while preparing the fish.
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Wipe out pan you used for the vegetables and return to the stove. Reduce heat to medium. Add oil (portion for fish).
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Add fish to heated pan and sear until flaky and opaque, 2 to 4 minutes on each side (depending on thickness).
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When fish is done cooking, transfer it to serving plates. Top with lemon caper butter so that the butter melts.
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If couscous was made ahead, reheat in the microwave.
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Serve fish over couscous with vegetables on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
This was SO good. The butter really elevates everything and pulls it all together. Used tilapia, and pearl couscous, because that's what we had. Doubled the garlic in the butter b/c we like it. Used carrots and peas, because that's all we had. I also cooked the beg and and the couscous in beef broth instead of water. The kids loved the veggies, and these are not veggie-loving children. Adding this to the faves for sure.
1 Helpful26 reviews
Though delicious, I'll do the sauce on the side next time for the kiddos. I tripled the garlic. Also may be need to thaw swordfish steaks longer than 12 hours.
0 HelpfulI love swordfish, this recipe worked well and adults and kids all loved it. I was also pleasantly surprised with the vegetable flavor profile. I've never used lemon juice and basil on veggies before and it was great!
0 HelpfulMade with Salmon and a side of mashed cauliflower/potatoes rather than couscous (not fans). Everyone loved it and no left overs, which is a rare occurrence with 6 of us at the table.
0 HelpfulI used Mahi Mahi (already in the freezer) and had to adjust the cooking time. Ended up doing a little steaming to get it to cook through. Used pearl couscous (again, it's what I already had). The meal was delicious!! Loved it!
0 HelpfulThis was easy and delicious! Even the picky 7yo liked it. Used one can garbanzo and one pinto as well as sunflower seeds because it’s what I had.
0 Helpful