28 Jul pan fried mackerel

Mackerel is a fish I feel good about eating. It’s local and sustainable, and its beautifully zebra-striped skin gives way to sweetly flavoured meat. It loves being paired with beetroot, and we’ve taken advantage of that in this week’s beetroot salsa recipe.

Fresh mackerel with beetroot salsa

Serves 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 vacuum packed beets

1 tablespoon of finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Juice of half a lemon

Salt

Pepper

2 x mackerel fillets

1 tablespoon of yogurt

1 garlic clove

Fresh dill

Handful of rocket

Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

1. Start by making your beetroot salsa. Drain the beets and dice into small cubes. Place them in a bowl. Add the finely chopped red onion, the lemon zest and lemon juice. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. When the pan is nice and hot, place the mackerel fillets, skin side down on the pan. Fry for 4 minutes, and then flip over and fry for a further two to three minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the yogurt in a bowl. Finely grate in the garlic clove. Finely chop a few leaves of fresh dill and mix them into the yogurt.

4. When the mackerel is cooked, serve immediately with some beetroot salsa and dill yogurt, and some lemon wedges on the side.

This recipe first appeared in The Irish Independent on July 23rd