Citrus-and-spice Grilled Sea Bass with Veg Medley

Using whole spices, particularly if they have been toasted, is a great way to add more flavour to a dish without adding calories. Here, we combine the warm fragrant spices of coriander and cumin seeds with the zingy edge of citrus fruit. A beautiful fillet of sea bass and a veg medley – this dish is as tasty as it is pretty. If you are making the recipe for more than one person, simply double up on all the ingredients listed below.

Ingredients

• 1 lemon, halved
• ½ lime
• 1 sea bass fillet
• 70g baby corn
• 40g fine green beans, trimmed
• 1 ½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds
• 1 ½ teaspoons whole coriander seeds
• salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3-4 cherry tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
• sea salt flakes

Method

1. Halve the lemon and keep one half aside for serving. Slice two thin slices from the halved lemon and two from the halved lime and set aside, then squeeze the juice from the remaining pieces into a bowl. Add the sea bass and place in the fridge to marinate in the citrus juices for at least 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Prepare an oven tray and place the 2 lemon slices and 2 lime slices onto it, slightly overlapping each other.
3. Begin with the vegetables. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add the baby corn and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the green beans and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Drain the vegetables and plunge into a bowl of iced water to prevent further cooking. Once cooled, remove from the bowl and place on a tray lined with paper towels to drain.
4. Toast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a hot, dry pan until fragrant. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before crushing with a pestle and mortar.
5. Remove the sea bass from the citrus marinade and pat dry using kitchen paper. Season both sides with salt and pepper, then scatter the crushed spice over each side of the fillet, pressing the spice into the flesh and skin. Keep some spice aside to season the vegetables later.
6. Heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and grill the fish skin-side down for 3 minutes until you can see the skin is crispy. (Peek underneath to check). Carefully remove the fish and place skin-side up on top of the layered lemon and lime slices on the prepared oven tray.
7. Place the tray in the oven for 5-6 minutes to finish cooking through.
8. Use those 5 minutes to finish the vegetables. Wipe the pan you used and heat another teaspoon olive oil. Lightly fry the garlic slices, green beans, baby corn and cherry tomatoes for 4-5 minutes. If you have any leftover spice mix, scatter over the vegetables as you lightly warm them through. (Ensure you do not burn the garlic as it will turn bitter.)
9. Everything should finish at the same time, so remove the fish from the oven* and the vegetables from the stove top. Plate up and season with sea salt flakes. If you have any lemon wedges, squeeze generously over cooked vegetables and fish and serve immediately.

The slices of lemon and lime underneath the sea bass is meant to impart flavour and shouldn’t be eaten with the fish.