Lime-Grilled Mahi Mahi with Basmati Rice, Asparagus and Pineapple Salsa

Mahi Mahi is one of my favorite types of fish. There are several ways to consume/cook it: raw, seared, or grilled come to mind. Either way I like them all but in this case I went for the flame grilled approach.

For this dish, I was looking to make something with a tropical feel. I knew I wanted pineapple somewhere (though I did contemplate a mango salsa instead) for the acid to contrast the grilled fish and asparagus. It turned out really well although I did put a bit too much lime into the rice. No big deal, you live and learn.

Overall, I paired the Lime-Grilled Mahi Mahi with some Basmati Rice, grilled Asparagus and topped it off with some Pineapple Salsa. It actually went very well together for a nice dish. The salsa turned out way better than I expected and went very well with the fish.

Process

So Ashley bought these nice fillets from Whole Foods and said "hey you, make these!" Well, I couldn't hardly say no as I do love Mahi Mahi. The first thing I had to figure out was how the fish would be cooked. I was unsure if the fish was sushi quality, so that limited my options to the oven or the grill. I picked the grill as that definitely is my preferred tool of cooking.

Following that choice, I now had to decide out what to pair the fish with. I figured a nice veggie and light carb option would go well and fit with my tropical feel. Hence the lime marinade on the fish and rice as well as the pineapple salsa. I first made the marinade for the fish so I could let it soak in the flavors for a bit before plopping them on the grill. The marinade is easy, I just combined the lime juice, olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper together, tossed it into a bag with the fish and began to prep my other foods.

The pineapple salsa was next. It is made up of pineapple, red onion, serrano pepper, lime juice and cilantro with some salt. Chop the pineapple, onion and pepper (leave the seeds in if you want more of a bite) and combine. Toss in in the lime juice, salt and cilantro and you're done. Set aside for later.

Next up: Basmati rice. Melt the butter over medium heat, add the washed rice into a two quart saucepan with lime the juice (I recommend half a lime instead of a whole as I overdid it in this batch). Let the rice cook for about one minute in the butter prior to adding the water and salt. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cut the heat to a simmer and cover the saucepan. Let the rice simmer for about 25 minutes covered. Mix in the cilantro and fluff with a fork.

The asparagus is super easy to prepare. Take your asparagus, cut them to your desired length and toss in pepper and olive oil. Done. Set aside for the grill.

Now that everything is prepped, fish is marinading, salsa is done, rice is cooking and the asparagus is good to go it's time to fire up the grill. This time, I left the scales on the fish and I learned a very important lesson. If you do this, cut slits in the scales so the heat can penetrate to the fillet and actually cook it. I had to re-cook the fish to account for the side with the scales that was perfectly raw after sitting on the grill for 8 minutes. It was a good lesson in fish anatomy though as the scales really do product the fish well.

For the grilling, I had my cooking surface at two different temperatures: light heat for the asparagus and medium for the fish. The asparagus took about three to four minutes to tender up and get some nice color. All I really did was make sure they didn't burn. The fish I grilled for about eight minutes per side. As I mentioned before, this was perfect for the flesh side but barely touched the scale side. Ideally, you only want to flip the fish once but I had to re-cook them on the grill to get them cooked throughout. When you flip, bast the topside with any leftover marinade. No big deal and nothing than more on the flame wouldn't fix.

By the time the fish were ready, my rice was done and everything was ready to eat. The scales were charred perfectly such that it just melted off the fish. As I mentioned before, the pineapple salsa is what really brought this dish together. The acid from the fruit really went well with the grilled flavor of the fish. I am definitely happy I went with that rather than mango, which I don't think would have paired with the flavors as well.


Lime-Grilled Mahi Mahi with Basmati Rice, Asparagus, and Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

Mahi Mahi
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 T garlic (minced)
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Basmati Rice
1 tsp butter
2 tsp cilantro
2/3 cup rice
1 cup water
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 lime (juice)

Grilled Asparagus
1 lbs asparagus
1 T olive oil
1 tsp pepper

Pineapple Salsa
2 cups pineapple (chopped)
1 serrano pepper (chopped, seeded or seedless, your call)
½ red onion (chopped)
½ cup cilantro
½ tsp Kosher salt


Directions

Mahi Mahi

1. Combine the components of the marinade: lime juice, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper. Let the fish marinade for at least 15 minutes prior to grilling.
2. If leaving the scales of the fish on, cut slits to allow for the scale side to cook evenly.
3. Place on grill with medium heat and grill each side for 8-10 minutes. Flip only once and bast with remaining marinade.

Basmati Rice

1. Melt the butter in a 2 quart sauce pan. While the butter is melting, wash the rice and pour the ⅔ cup into the sauce pan with lime juice. Let the rice cook in the butter for amount a minute prior to adding the water.
2. Let the water boil and add salt. After the water is boiling, cut the heat to simmer and let sit covered for about 25 minutes.
3. After the rice is ready, add in the cilantro and fluff with a fork.

Grilled Asparagus

1. Prep asparagus cutting the ends off the stalks. Coat in olive oil and pepper.
2. Place on grill with light heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender.

Pineapple Salsa

1. Chop the pineapple, red onion and serrano pepper. Combine with the other components and toss. Salt to taste. If so desired, you can add some kick to the salsa by leaving in the seeds from the pepper.