This Is the Only Way I’ll Make Swordfish, the Steakiest Fish in the Sea

I’m not into steak. It’s a point of much contention in both my home life and at work (lay off me, everyone!), but I stand my ground. I don’t care how rare, dry-aged, or expensive your steak is. It’s just too much chewing. Grilled swordfish, though: Now that’s my kind of steak. Thick as a filet and slices like butter. And it doesn’t make me feel like a farm animal when I eat it.

Luckily my usual dinner partner will forgo red meat in favor of swordfish if gently nudged, which is what I did last week while we stood between the fish and the meat counters at Eataly, aka my personal heaven. “Look!” I said, pointing to a page in the June/July grilling issue of Bon Appétit. It was this recipe—swordfish flanked by oranges and charred fennel—and it looked impossibly simple. We already had everything we needed in our basket except the beef of the sea.

We didn’t get home until 8 p.m. because it’s really hard to leave heaven. Thankfully this recipe came together in under an hour, so I didn't have to fall asleep with my face in a plate of fish. While the grill heated up, we trimmed and washed the leeks and sliced the oranges. Then we threw the leeks whole onto the hot grill, where the outsides charred and the insides steamed, for about 10 minutes. (Notice how I’m saying “we”? My cooking companion would like you to know that he was doing all of this prep work while I was... supervising from the couch with the latest issue of O. I’d like to thank him, and Oprah, here.)

While the leeks were charring, we smashed and pitted some green olives and cut a blood orange into rounds. The thing about slicing citrus into rounds is that it’s harder than it looks. You need a sharp knife and a sturdy piece of fruit. This recipe page has an illustrated guide, but if your citrus rounds look more like a citrus pile, don’t sweat it and also same.

Once the leeks came off the grill, the swordfish went on for five or six minutes a side. We sliced the charred leeks, again very imperfectly, and tossed them with the olives along with some dill (the best herb!), white wine vinegar, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt. By the time that all came together, the swordfish was ready for us.

Reader, this is the only swordfish recipe I want to eat this summer. The richness of the fish, the briny olives, the soft, smoky leeks made for a meal that tasted way more decadent than it actually was. The blood orange was a sweetly acidic palate cleanser between bites. But I was most impressed by how the whole recipe required only six ingredients—plus salt, pepper, and oil—and that it came together in under an hour. Just like that, I was back in heaven.

Swordfish: It’s What’s For Dinner:

Grilled Swordfish with Charred Leeks and Citrus