Grilled white fish with zucchini and kale pesto

Grilled white fish with zucchini and kale pesto

Fire up the grill — or just pretend that your kitchen is the new outdoors — and treat yourself to this yummy seared white fish meal, complete with crisp ribbons of zucchini. The finishing touch? A fresh, delicate kale pesto makes this keto dish burst with flavor!
June 18 2018 recipe by , photo by , nutritional review by in Recipes, Dinner, Lunch, Meal

Grilled white fish with zucchini and kale pesto

Fire up the grill — or just pretend that your kitchen is the new outdoors — and treat yourself to this yummy seared white fish meal, complete with crisp ribbons of zucchini. The finishing touch? A fresh, delicate kale pesto makes this keto dish burst with flavor!
USMetric
4 servingservings

Ingredients

Kale pesto
  • 3 oz. 85 g kale
  • 3 tbsp 3 tbsp lemon juice or lime juice
  • 2 oz. (9 tbsp) 55 g (130 ml) walnuts
  • 1 1 garlic clovegarlic cloves
  • ½ tsp ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ cup 120 ml olive oil
Fish and zucchini
  • 1¼ lbs 550 g zucchini
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1½ lbs 650 g white fish fillet (for example cod, halibut, flounder or Alaskan whitefish)white fish fillets (for example cod, halibut, flounder or Alaskan whitefish)
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp ground black pepper
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Instructions

Instructions are for 4 servings. Please modify as needed.

  1. Start preparing the pesto by roughly chopping the kale. Place the kale, walnuts, lime, and garlic in a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oil towards the end and process a bit more. Set aside.
  2. Rinse the zucchini and cut thinly with a sharp knife, slicer, or mandolin. Put the slices in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and dress with lemon juice and olive oil. Set aside.
  3. Salt both sides of the fish and let sit for a few minutes. Wipe off excess liquid and brush with oil.
  4. Grill or fry the fish for a few minutes on each side in a frying pan with oil on medium-high heat. Season with pepper and serve together with the zucchini and pesto.

Tip!

The pesto is an excellent accompaniment to many different dishes — red meats, chicken, and roasted vegetables come to mind, but it also complements eggs, fried halloumi and salads. Leftover pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to one month.

If you don't have kale, you can use arugula or basil for your pesto.

Recommended special equipment

Blender or food processor. Slicer or mandolin.

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What did you think? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

15 comments

  1. 1
    lisa
    June 25 2018
    Excellent!!!!
  2. 2
    Jacqueline
    August 6 2018
    What is a good substitute for kale. I don't like kale. I have tried fixing it a lot of ways and just cannot eat it.
    Reply: #3
  3. 3
    Reply to comment #2 by Jacqueline
    Angelica
    August 8 2018
    I've made pesto with spinach before. It was good!
  4. 4
    Christina
    August 24 2018
    So the zucchini are left row or need to be cooked with the fish?
  5. 5
    Preeti Sd
    September 24 2018
    Where can I get Kale leaves either online or anywhere in Bangalore!! I have searched for it so much that now I'm almost giving up. It's not even available on big basket.com Even when they notify that is lt is available but every time it gets out of stock and I never got it.. Please help.
    Reply: #9
  6. 2 comments removed
  7. 8
    Daniela
    May 22 2019
    So.... I bought all the ingredients for the entire week but they cut me short on the zucchini so I used quarters or artichoke hearts from a can only few pieces, I chose Tilapia for my fish and changed the walnuts to pecans and used less. It’s delish!!!! I also cooked it all in a pan over butter gave it much more flavor! So stayed in KETO mode but modified and it turned out amazing!!!!
  8. 9
    Reply to comment #5 by Preeti Sd
    Daniela
    May 22 2019
    Farmers market/whole foods/harris teeter
  9. 10
    Ange
    May 23 2019
    I hate fish but I made this and it was surprisingly yummy.
    I put turmeric powder on the fish before frying.
  10. 2 comments removed
  11. 13
    Andrea
    July 30 2020
    Really enjoyed this light dish. Thank you for the recipe! I did end up sautéing the zucchini a little bit... it was no big deal.
    Reply: #14
  12. 14
    Reply to comment #13 by Andrea
    Crystal Pullen Team Diet Doctor
    July 30 2020

    Really enjoyed this light dish. Thank you for the recipe! I did end up sautéing the zucchini a little bit... it was no big deal.

    Wonderful! I am so glad you enjoyed this one.

  13. 15
    Pam
    March 26 2021
    what is 2/5 of a cup? whatever happened to the decimal system. Grams ml ltrs? Could I use a metric cup = 250 ml 3/5 = 100ml?
  14. 16
    Pam
    March 26 2021
    whoops 2/5 =100 mls
    Reply: #17
  15. 17
    Reply to comment #16 by Pam
    Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor
    March 27 2021

    whoops 2/5 =100 mls

    Hi, Pam! There is a green toggle button above the ingredients list if you'd like to switch to metric measurements.

  16. 18
    Sonya Slonya
    May 9 2021
    When I first made it – I found myself strongly disliking it –> I didn't have grill, so I tried frying the fish on a non-stick pan with a tini-tiny drop of olive oil. Then after a few minutes I added sliced zucchini to the pan, and broke the fish into pieces. Turn out pretty bad and made me question my cooking overall. However, the next day I decided to give it one more try with slight alterations. What I did first is put frosted fish in a waffle-maker...yes, the closest to the grill I could get. Then it melted there just in a minute or two and started cooking. However, the fish began giving too much juice so I started worrying it would get inside to the electric mechanisms, so I stopped it. Meanwhile, the zucchini was frying with a dazzle of olive oil, I added a bit of herbs, paprika, chili pepper, salt and garlic powder. When it was fully cooked - I transferred it on the plate and only then placed the fish on the pan. By that time all the extra juice was left at the waffle-maker, so the fish just started frying and getting crispy, even though there was no oil at all. Covered it with store-bought very healthy pesto (20g) in the end, and added 25g of spinach on the side. Crazy, but same products ended up tasting completely different and left me craving this dish! Thank you.
    Reply: #19
  17. 19
    Reply to comment #18 by Sonya Slonya
    Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor
    May 9 2021

    When I first made it – I found myself strongly disliking it –> I didn't have grill, so I tried frying the fish on a non-stick pan with a tini-tiny drop of olive oil. Then after a few minutes I added sliced zucchini to the pan, and broke the fish into pieces. Turn out pretty bad and made me question my cooking overall. However, the next day I decided to give it one more try with slight alterations. What I did first is put frosted fish in a waffle-maker...yes, the closest to the grill I could get. Then it melted there just in a minute or two and started cooking. However, the fish began giving too much juice so I started worrying it would get inside to the electric mechanisms, so I stopped it. Meanwhile, the zucchini was frying with a dazzle of olive oil, I added a bit of herbs, paprika, chili pepper, salt and garlic powder. When it was fully cooked - I transferred it on the plate and only then placed the fish on the pan. By that time all the extra juice was left at the waffle-maker, so the fish just started frying and getting crispy, even though there was no oil at all. Covered it with store-bought very healthy pesto (20g) in the end, and added 25g of spinach on the side. Crazy, but same products ended up tasting completely different and left me craving this dish! Thank you.

    So glad it worked out for you. Thanks for sharing!

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