When I moved back to Washington almost seven years ago, I dove headfirst into a tour of all the seafood Seattle had to offer. I ordered oysters with abandon, cooked salmon more times than I can count, sampled goeduck, sat at sushi counters, stalked spot prawns, and set crab pots in the San Juans. But somehow in all of that, I forgot about halibut. What had once been a childhood favorite had somehow slipped to the end of the line when I was ordering at my favorite seafood counter. Luckily, this summer, that all changed when I saw the vast, pearl-white slabs of "First of the season halibut!" advertised at my local Town & Country. I took a pound home and cooked it up for dinner, reveling in its pure white flakes that so perfectly pair with so many flavors.

After having cooked halibut once a week for the past few months, I've settled into the perfect way to prepare it (thanks to The Lost Kitchen for pointing me in the right direction). The fish gets quickly seared on both sides before being popped in the oven—with some seasonal vegetables and plenty of butter—for a few minutes. It's an efficient one-pot dinner that exudes elegance with minimal effort. And while this iteration is my current favorite, any other aromatic or quick-cooking vegetable can easily be substituted for the tomatoes and shallots I call for here. Like I said: halibut is a versatile thing of beauty.

Ingredients

1 lb halibut
1 pint Sungold tomatoes, cut in half
2 shallots, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 lemon
1 tsp flaky salt
kosher salt
fresh-cracked pepper

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 425°. Pat the halibut dry and season both sides generously with kosher salt and pepper.

Heat an oven-safe pan over medium-high heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. When the pan is hot enough that you can only hold your hand over it for X seconds, add the halibut skin-side down. Move slowly and place the fish away from your body so you don't get splashed with hot oil.

Use a spatula to press down on the fish for the first 15 seconds or so. This will help keep it flat. Cook for 3 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan, and flip the fist so it's skin-side up. Cook for 2 more minutes, then remove the fish from the pan and turn the heat down to low.

Add the chopped shallots and cook until slightly softened and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the tomatoes, along with a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter, then place the halibut, skin-side up, atop the tomatoes and shallots.

Cook in the center rack of your oven for 3 minutes, then flip the fish so it's skin-side down. Using a large spoon to spoon some of the butter, juices and tomatoes over the top of the halibut. Cook for 3 more minutes, then remove from the oven.

Zest the lemon, then combine the zest with 1 teaspoon of flaky salt, making sure to rub it together with your fingers to release the aroma. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the pan, gently mixing it into the drippings.

Sprinkle the lemon salt over the top of the dish and serve. I like to spoon this over a bed of rice or quinoa to really soak up all the delicious brown butter and melted tomatoes.