I’m so excited to introduce you to a friend and guest food blogger, Robyn Feldberg.
Robyn is an executive career coach and resume writer with a passion for writing, food, and cooking. With deep culinary roots (her grandfather was a restaurateur and her mother, a caterer), Robyn started helping in the kitchen as a young girl and hasn’t stopped since. When she’s not spending time with her family or equipping her clients with tools, tactics, and tenacity to attract more satisfying careers, there’s a good chance she’s in the kitchen. Robyn recently wrote her first cookbook, Feldberg Family Favorites, as a gift to her three sons and husband of 26 years.
Here is Robyn’s recipe for Veracruzana-Style Mahi-Mahi. I’m sure you will enjoy this “fishy” story.
This recipe has everything I look for when the weather gets warm: it goes together quickly; it’s healthy; and it’s beautiful.
But perhaps most importantly, it’s delicious—so much so, in fact, that as I’m writing this blog post, my eldest son is eating last night’s leftovers, Mahi-Mahi Veracruzana… for breakfast. And I just asked him to give me a fork-full. Yes, it’s that yummy!
The first time I tried Veracruzana-style fish, it was made with Red Snapper, and served at what was my favorite special-occasion restaurant, Artin’s Grill in Plano, Texas.
When I first spotted it on their menu, I thought the combination seemed odd — squash, zucchini, capers, olives – but, because those are all things I like, I asked the waiter about it, and when he confirmed it was one of his personal favorites, I decided to give it a try. That was a very smart move!
As I was eating my fish that night, unconsciously making yum-noises as I tend to do when eating something I really like, I immediately started making mental plans to order it again at our next visit, not realizing there wouldn’t be a next visit.
So, when I found out Artin’s had closed their doors for good, there was only one thing left to do, and that was try to recreate the deliciousness at home.
That said, with Red Snapper costing $23.99/pound, I thought I’d make a more budget-friendly version using Mahi-Mahi I purchased at my local Costco for $8.33/pound ($24.99 for a 3-pound bag). Did I mention that we have two sons in college, with a third that will be starting college in just three short years – all with healthy appetites? Yeah!
Besides that, though, I love Mahi-Mahi, and actually think it’s a tastier fish than Red Snapper. The Kirkland brand Mahi-Mahi comes frozen in individually wrapped packages. This makes it perfect for defrosting what you need, and only what you need, quickly and easily.
If you plan in advance, you can defrost the fish in the refrigerator. However, if you’re like me and prefer to fly by the seat of your pants, you can use the water method. Simply place the individually wrapped packages in a large bowl of cold water, swapping out the water every 10 minutes, until the fish is thawed. That’s what I did, and the whole process took less than 30 minutes. Once the fish is thawed, be sure to put it back into the refrigerator until you need it.
NOTE about the potatoes: You might notice the pictures show four potatoes, although the recipe, as written below, only lists three. When you create your own recipes there’s always a little trial and error. After I made this dish the first time, I felt four potatoes was too many, hence the recipe change to three. That said, if potatoes are your thing, feel free to use four.
It looks delicious – just sautéing the vegetables.
Assembling the ingredients in the dish. 
Adding the Mahi-Mahi on top of the vegetable mixture.
Here’s the recipe, hope you all enjoy!
Serves 4
Save RecipeIngredients
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup white onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons caper juice
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 small zucchini, evenly sliced in 2-inch long strips
- 2 small yellow squash, evenly sliced in 2-inch long strips
- 3 small Yukon gold potatoes
- 1/3 cup pitted, thinly sliced black and green olives
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped*
- 4 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 Mahi Mahi filets
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 limes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place potatoes in a pan of cold, salted water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are just fork tender. Drain the potatoes, cool, and set aside for later.
- Heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Stir in onions and cook until they’re almost translucent, about 4 or 5 minutes, before adding in the squash and zucchini and continuing to cook.
- When the onions are translucent, stir in the tomatoes, olives, and jalapenos, and cook, stirring until the tomatoes begin to collapse. That should take about 3 minutes. Then, remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped oregano.
- Next, cut the cooled potatoes into thin wedges, and set aside again.
- Drizzle remaining 4 teaspoons of olive oil into a 13” x 9” x 2” glass dish. Spoon some of the tomato mixture on top of the oil, and arrange fish fillets on top. Season the fish with a nice sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Arrange potatoes around the fish, and then top everything off with the remaining tomato mixture and freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the Mahi Mahi is flaky, and no longer translucent, about 30 minutes or so, depending on the thickness of your fish.
- Garnish with a sprig of fresh oregano, if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
* This recipe isn’t what I would call spicy, but I’m from Texas. That said, if you want to make this milder, you can substitute 4 tablespoons of Mezzetta’s Deli-Sliced Tame Jalapeno Slices.
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