If your new year’s resolution had anything to do with a healthier diet, then this simple, elegant dish is a good place to start. I absolutely adore halibut for its delicate, clean flavor and firm texture. And its nutritional benefits are through the roof – super low in fat and calories, halibut is an excellent source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, vitamin b12, and more. Cooking en papillote – or in a parchment paper bundle – is a great way to seal in these nutrients without introducing a lot of extra fats to your meal. You simply put whatever you’d like to cook, along with a bit of liquid and flavor if you like, into a pack made of parchment, seal it, and bake. The result is a healthy meal that is more flavorful than simply steaming but just as healthy.
Not only is this dish incredibly healthy, it’s also beautiful. It makes for a fun presentation that is especially enjoyable when entertaining. Each guest gets his or her own packet, a little surprise on their plate. When everyone opens them at the same time the result is quite dramatic as each guest gets a whiff of and first glance at the contents. Plus, it require very little clean up since everything is contained within the parchment paper. How easy is that?
For this dish, I sautéed onion, zucchini, and garlic to use as the structural and flavor base of the dish. After spooning this aromatic mixture onto the parchment I added the halibut, which I seasoned and topped with lemon slices. A bit of white wine provided steaming liquid plus additional flavor. It is then baked for a mere 8 to 10 minutes and voila, a healthy gourmet meal is on your table!
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- ½ small onion, chopped
- 1 small zucchini, cut into large dice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound halibut filet, cut into 4 even pieces
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 8 thin slices lemon
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add the onion, zucchini, and garlic and sauté until softened. Remove from the heat.
- Cut 4 pieces of parchment into squares or rectangles twice as big as the pieces of fish. Fold in half and cut out a half heart shape (like you did on Valentine's day as a kid so when it unfolds it's shaped like a heart). Lay the parchment on a baking sheet.
- Unfold one parchment heart and spoon ¼ of the zucchini mixture into the center.
- Place a piece of halibut on top and season with salt and pepper.
- Top with 2 lemon slices.
- Fold over the edges of the parchment little by little, leaving a small opening. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the wine and fold over to seal.
- Repeat with remaining parchment and fish.
- Put in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Transfer the packets to plates and serve immediately.
This recipe has been linked up at Jane Deere’s Fusion Fridays
I’ve just recently started cooking fish, so I’m always looking for new recipes – this one looks fabulous. Consequently, I don’t have much to offer for the blog hop other than my favorite tuna pasta salad:)
Thanks Anne! I only started cooking fish a few years ago but I just love it now. I’ve found so many new recipes to try on this hop! Thanks for linking up your tuna pasta salad! 😀
Oh, yes, cooking fish in a little parcel is such a great idea, Katherine. Your white on white photos are beautiful, too.
Thanks Sarah! I love how simple and healthy it is 🙂
Thanks so much for the invite! Fish (and seafood) are one of my favorite things. That halibut looks great! 🙂
Thanks Willow! So glad you stopped by 🙂
Yes this is so healthy, simple and elegant!
Thank you Shannon! I must agree 😀
I love cooking on papillote, and I especially love that you just added the zucchini in there 🙂 I think I fell in lcoe with this when I was 16, staying with a French host family for the summer, and my “maman” made halibut with gigs en papilotte. Amazing!
By the way, there’s a little surprise waiting for you at my blog!
That sounds so lovely! What an image I have in my head of your maman cooking en papillote – what an experience! And I’m so excited, popping over to your blog to check it out now 😀
I’m such a fan of fish en papillote – lovely instructional on folding the paper properly as well (which I never do – ha!).
Me too! I want to cook everything this way! And thanks 😀
I love cooking “en papillote” … and I’ll be sharing my “trout en papillote” recipe in the blog hop!
I definitely want to try your halibut version … that’s my favorite fish and your recipe sounds light, healthy, and delicious!
So glad you shared that recipe Kimberly! I want to cook more fish this way and I definitely don’t cook with trout enough. I hope you enjoy this version with halibut!
I love the en papillote method. It is healthy and everything turns out great! Your fish looks delicious!
It’s so true! Thanks Pola 🙂
Your fish looks delicious Katherine, I love halibut! Thanks for the bloghop, have a wonderful weekend!
Thanks Eri!! I do too. It can be a little pricey, but well worth the splurge.
Your dish looks tempting and beautiful! Great step by step photos too. We are trying to eat fish at least once and preferably twice a week. I’ve linked a couple of our favorites.
Thanks Susie! I’ve also been trying to put more fish on the table. So glad you linked up!!
I really do like the way this is prepared! I imagine all the delicious flavors are sealed right in that paper. Yum-nothing like flaky baked lemon fish!
Thank you Tina! All the flavors and healthy goodness are indeed sealed within the paper! It’s such a great cooking technique.
Love this kind of easy, healthy, and delicious recipe. It’s perfect for dieting too as it’s light. I like that you put zucchini at the bottom. I would never think of that as veggie option. Great idea!
Me too! This is absolutely ideal for dieting. I don’t think it gets much healthier then this! And I love zucchini. Thanks Nami!
Hello there Katherine, thanks so much for the invitation! Apologies, I put my own name instead of the dish! Blonde moment. Thanks so much for presenting a selection of beautiful recipes!
Haha I do that all the time with these things! I’ve fixed it. Thanks for linking up your salmon recipes!
I love halibut too, for the same reasons as you mentioned!:) Oh my, what a great dish to start the new year!;)
Halibut and zucchini, ahhhh, sounds like a heavenly combination!!:D
Isn’t halibut the best?! And it is definitely heavenly with zucchini 🙂 Thanks Christy!
What a beautiful, healthy, and easy to make dish! I love that the preparation and cooking steps are so simple…it’s something I can make on a busy week night and still eat healthy!
Thank you Sharon! It is perfect for healthy eating on a weeknight. It couldn’t be simpler and any kind of fish can be cooked in this way!
I meant to rate your recipe with my first comment, but it didn’t happen. So here’s my rating for this recipe. =)
Thanks Sharon you’re too sweet 😀
Your halibut looks simple and wonderful!!! YUM!
Thanks Liz!!
The fish prepared this way must have tasted very fresh and succulent!
It did! Cooking in parchment really seals in all the flavor and keeps it super moist.
I absolutely love this. Bright, fresh and delicious flavors that don’t mask the halibut.
I love cooking ‘en papillote’ also. One of those simple technique that people should use more.
Feel free to share your beautiful creations in my food gallery http://www.zencancook.com/zenspotting/ if you feel like it. Would love to have you there. 🙂
Thanks! I agree about cooking en papillote – it’s something I would like to do more often as well! Thanks so much for the invitation to Zenspotting, it’s gorgeous! I’ll definitely submit some photos, thanks 😀
That looks absolutely stunning! I adore fish, but developed an allergy to ALL seafood – fresh water and sea as well as shellfish about 9 years ago. I can’t even tolerate prolonged exposure! However, if I could – the papillote recipe would be one we would definitely try – it’s stunning!
Thank you Ann! Oh no – that is terrible!!! I can’t believe it. I’m so upset to learn that you can develop an allergy like that. 🙁
This is as beautiful to look at as it would taste. I love cooking en papillote, but my efforsts never look this pretty so thank you for the instructions!
Thank you Anna! You’re so welcome, I hope this helps! Mine don’t always look this pretty, I lucked out 🙂
This recipe definitely makes me so excited for summer! Very light and refreshing. I love steamed fish 🙂
Thanks Kiran! Yes, this will be perfect in summertime.
Lovely presentation and what a healthy dish! I made prawns en papillote a few days ago and ended up burning the paper! I realised that my oven temperature was searing hot!
Thank you! And oh no, that is definitely something to keep in mind! Especially if you have a gas oven. I bet it still tasted good – I’ll have to try prawns en papillote.
Ooooh, step by step photos! Very appropriate in this case. And I agree this is a terrific way to cook fish.
Haha yes, I thought them appropriate for this scenario 🙂
Oh my, I am totally making this. Just keep staring at it.
😀 I hope you like it Kim!!
I love cooking en papillote – especially for fish as it it is often very delicate. This looks absolutely fabulous!
Yes, it’s perfect for delicate fish like halibut. Thank you!! 🙂