Arctic char with lentil salsa

Like most other Calgarians, I've given in to spring fever this weekend. This incredible chinook is a much needed break from the frigid temperatures that we've had since forEVER. So rather than cook yet another heavy, stew-like dish I wanted to prepare something a little lighter. (Although I'm sure that I'll be back with the heavy and the stewy before too long.)

I took a char out of the freezer and let it start thawing while I scanned some recipes. This was what I selected (although I modified it a bit). The verdict? Well, although I adored the lentil salsa, it just did not go with the char. Like, at all. (No, I'm serious.) It might have been better with a milder, white-fleshed fish like sole, but it did absolutely nothing for the char. (I think it could be brilliant with grilled chicken, though.) Anyways, here's the recipe that I used.

Arctic Char with Lentil Salsa
adapted from a Delia Online recipe

1 arctic char (no idea how big it was :-)
lemon slices
handful cilantro, with stems
~100 g lentils
large handful cilantro, stems reserved, leaves chopped
15 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, squeezed and sort of diced
1 c green mango, diced
1/4 huge red onion, diced
1/2 large red chili, finely diced (with seeds)
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp olive oil
arugula

Cook the lentils and the cilantro stems in approx. 1 cup of water for about 30 minutes (or until all the liquid is absorbed). Meanwhile combine the cilantro, cherry tomatoes, mango, onion and chili together in a bowl. Once the lentils are done, pick out the cilantro stems (chopsticks worked well for this part) and dress the lentils with the lime juice, olive oil, and s&p. Toss with the veggies while the lentils are still warm. This is the lentil salsa, and it is sublime.

Season the arctic char inside and out, and place lemon and cilantro inside and out. Wrap and seal in foil, and bake at 350 until done. Alternatively, you can take it out of the oven and start serving it while it's still raw on the inside. But I really don't recommend that. (Hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with how I felt about this dish??)

I served this on a bed of arugula. Like I said, it was mostly meh. I found that once I'd eaten the char I just went back for more salsa to eat with the arugula. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since I'm still dealing with the results of a calorie-laden holiday season :-)

I ended up with leftovers for both the char and the lentil salsa. The char will likely make its way into my breakfast rice bowl, along with a healthy dollop of tom yum paste. As for the lentil salsa... I may pick up some chicken later in the week. Otherwise, it would also be fantastic on an omelet.