As the seasons change I find myself drawn to fresh, vibrant and light dishes over the heavy red meat and mashed potato dishes which are so ubiquitous with the winter.  This dish is inspired by just that.  The original recipe is mine but I saw Jamie Oliver do a similar thing on ‘Jamie does…’ so I nicked a couple of his tips;

• 2 fillets of Sea bass or any other good quality white fish (4 if your feeling peckish)
• 2 tbsp of light olive oil
• Butter
• Dill
• 1 Lemon
• 3 medium sized Beetroots
• 4 Clementines (or other members of the orange family – I would normally go for whatever is most in season)
• 1 bulb of Fennel
• 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

For the Salad

1. Pre-heat your oven to 190 C, pop the beets (whole) on a baking tray and place them in the oven to bake for 40-50 mins. (Don’t add any olive oil or seasoning as you are trying to bake them, not roast them)
2. Whilst the beets are baking, top and tail your Clementine’s and carefully cut away the peel from top to bottom so as to remove any skin and pith.
3. Over a large bowl, carefully cut each of the segments from the membrane allowing any juice to be caught in the same bowl. Add the extra virgin olive oil and mix with the orange juice and segments.
4. Remove the outer leaves of the fennel, take each following leaf and slice into thin slithers and add to the oranges.
5. Once the beets are ready, allow them to cool and peel. Cut in to quarters and add to the orange and fennel salad. Because the beets have been baked they will have dried up meaning they will soak up a lot of the juices (and there goes tip 1 from Jamie).  You will also get a lovely deep purple dressing.

For the Fish

1. Once the salad is ready, heat the light olive in a frying pan to a medium-high temperature. Not low that you end up stewing the fish and not to high that you end up burning the skin.
2. Season your fillet and add to the pan skin side down. Cook until the skin is crisp and the fish is almost cooked through (this method works with Sea bass but might not with a thicker fillet)
3. Flip over a fry for another 30 secs, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a knob of butter and a handful of dill (tip 2 from Jamie). Cook for another 30 secs.
4. Place the fish on top of the salad, skin side up.

Enjoy

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