Over Warm Chickpea, Roasted Tomato and Dandelion Green Salad with Lemon and Feta
Serves 6 or more If you are looking for a celebratory entrée that will capture the beauty of what a wood oven can do, then look no further. Here, a 3-pound loin of center cut swordfish is treated like a roast of beef, keeping the center entirely moist. The key to this dish is having an impeccably fresh piece of swordfish, and not overcooking it. Serve it over a hearty yet healthy Mediterranean-style salad.Ingredients
- 3 lb. Swordfish Loin, center cut, cut from either the top of the loin, or bottom of the loin, so that the “blood line” is only on one side, and can be removed entirely, yielding a longer, narrower and seamless piece that resembles an eye round. (A shorter, wider cross section will result in the bloodline down the middle, which won’t taste great and will not cook the same.)
- To Taste: Kosher or Sea Salt
- To Taste: White Pepper, freshly ground
- As Needed: Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Lawry’s Garlic Seasoning
- 1/4 cup Herbs (your choice), fresh, chopped
- 6 Plum Tomatoes, halved, stems removed
- As Needed: Olive Oil
- As Needed: Kosher or Sea Salt
- To Taste: Black Pepper, freshly ground
- 2 cans Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas), 22-oz size, drained
- 1 bunch Dandelion Greens, trimmed of stems
- 2 Lemons, juice of, fresh
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- To Taste: Kosher or Sea Salt
- To Taste: Black Pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup Feta Cheese
Directions
- On the night before, or at least 6 hours prior to cooking, sprinkle a liberal amount of salt and pepper over the swordfish. Cover it and refrigerate overnight. On the day you plan to cook the fish, place it on a roasting rack (over a shallow roasting pan), and rub the loin with a touch of oil, and season with the Lawry’s and herbs. Allow the loin to sit at room temperature, covered loosely with plastic wrap, for 1-1/2 hours.
- Work with the fire in your wood oven to normalize at 350 degrees F. Consult your oven’s instructions regarding the firing method for a large piece of meat/roast application. Alternatively, the swordfish can be roasted in either a convection oven or in a hot covered grill, or even pellet smoker, set up for “hot smoke” or indirect convection cooking. Once your fire is to temp, remove all but a log or two from the oven, sweep its floor clean of ashes and insert the swordfish. Roast for approximately 30 minutes or until an insta-read thermometer registers 120-125 degrees F, which will result in a medium to medium-well doneness, but certainly not a dry finish. During the last 5 minutes, add a log to the fire. This will intensify the fire and brown up the exterior of the fish before it’s removed from the oven. When the fish is done, remove it from the oven and tent loosely with foil to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- While the fish is cooking, using a large sauté pan, toss the tomatoes in a little olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Place the pan into the oven and roast the tomatoes until lightly browned and beginning to shrink. Remove from the oven. Drain the garbanzo beans/chickpeas, add them to the warm tomato pan and place in the oven to warm through. Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, as you would a vinaigrette dressing. When the chickpeas are warmed through, remove from the oven, dress with some of the lemon dressing, fold in the dandelion greens and place on a platter. Slice the swordfish roast into 6 even-thickness slabs and lay over the warm chickpea salad. Drizzle with the reserved lemon dressing and sprinkle with feta.
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