Moroccan Spiced Monkfish with Charred Lemon

Monkfish is a dense, meaty fish that takes beautifully to bold spicing, and this quick Moroccan-inspired rub of cumin, smoked paprika, cinnamon and a touch of cayenne gives it a deeply savoury, warmly spiced crust without any heavy sauce. A hot pan does all the work here, building a dark, flavourful sear on the outside while keeping the fish tender inside. A quick char on halved lemons in the same pan concentrates their sweetness and smooths out their sharpness, so a simple squeeze over the top is all the finishing touch you need. Served over a light bed of wilted spinach and garlicky chickpeas, this dinner is light but satisfying, leans on spice and citrus rather than butter or cream for flavour, and comes together in about 20 minutes from start to finish. It's a lean, high-protein plate that still feels special enough for a weeknight treat, with plenty of fibre from the greens and chickpeas to round things out.

Ingredients

• 300 gMonkfish fillet, trimmed and cut into medallions
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 0.5 tspground cinnamon
• 0.25 tspcayenne pepper, optional, to taste
• 0.5 tspsalt
• 0.25 tspblack pepper
• 1.5 tbspolive oil
• 1 wholelemon, halved
• 2 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
• 200 gcanned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 120 gbaby spinach
• 2 tbspfresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Method

No instructions listed.