Grilled Halibut with Tomato Relish and Cucumber-Mint Salsa

We got our vegetable box last Thursday and were supposed to get courgettes (zucchini). I didn't look that closely at them until it came time to use them in this. I had originally planned to included them in the tomato part. Upon finding out that they were, in fact, cucumber, I made a quick adjustment and made a cold salsa out of it. The contrast of hot fish and tomato with cold temperature cucumber (with and extra cooling kick from the mint) worked really nicely. You'll want some lemon-infused olive oil (or a squeeze of lemon juice) at the end to bring it all together.

600 g halibut, steaks
olive oil
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic, peeled and crushed
2 sprigs thyme
250 g cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 spring onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded, diced
15 mint leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ tablespoon white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
olive oil, lemon-infused, for drizzling

Take the halibut steaks and drizzle with olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic and thyme and let it sizzle away for 30 seconds or so. Add the cherry tomato quarters and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5-7 minutes; the tomatoes should start breaking down somewhat. While the tomatoes are cooking, get a grill pan hot over medium-high heat.

When the tomatoes have cooked down some, add the splash of balsamic and the sugar and toss through to coat. Cook for another 1-2 minutes to allow the balsamic to cook and sweeten a bit. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Combine the cucumber, mint, olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt and pepper and stir through to combine. Keep in the fridge.

In the grill pan, add the halibut. It should sizzle loudly. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side (this will vary depending on the thickness of the fish). Remove from the pan.

On a plate, place some of the tomato relish in the center. Top with a halibut steak and some cucumber salsa. Drizzle with lemon-infused olive oil and serve.