ORANGE YOU GLAD? | Citrus provides a bright counterpoint to rich and salty sea bass and olives. James Ransom for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Daniel Sean Murphy

"MY FOOD IS all about balance," said chef Missy Robbins, "and citrus has that acid I'm always looking for." In her third Slow Food Fast contribution, she plates crisp-skinned sea bass fillets on a bed of orange segments and scatters them with oil-cured olives and torn basil leaves. The combination channels both the sunshine of the Mediterranean and the energy of the city where Ms. Robbins has made her name. "This is actually a very New York dish—light and bright," said Ms. Robbins. "Ladies who lunch like it as much as businessmen."

The Chef: Missy Robbins

Missy Robbins Melissa Hom

Her Restaurants: A Voce Madison and A Voce Columbus, both in Manhattan

What She's Known For: Serving polished yet authentic and unaffected Italian meals to New York's power set.

More Missy Robbins Recipes

At this time of year, there's no shortage of citrus to choose from. "You can use anything," Ms. Robbins said, "satsumas, mandarins, grapefruit." Both pucker-inducing blood oranges and Cara Caras, lower in acid and a pretty shade of pink, provide a dramatic shot of color. Whatever you choose, look for fruits that are firm and heavy, an indicator of juiciness.

To present the oranges at their best—just the succulent flesh—Ms. Robbins calls for supreming, the classic technique for releasing the segments from the surrounding membrane. First, remove the peel and the bitter white pith along with it. Then, working over a bowl, use a knife to slice into the fruit along the walls lining the segments, allowing the wedges, or supremes, to drop into the bowl as you go. Once you've freed all the flesh, squeeze the membrane to extract any juice lingering within.

Beyond that, the fish sautés in minutes, with an additional blast under the broiler to cook through, and the sauce comes together effortlessly as the fruit's juice mingles with a finishing drizzle of oil.

—Kitty Greenwald

Sea Bass With Oranges, Olives and Basil

Total Time: 20 minutes Serves:4


¾ cup oil-cured, pitted black olives, roughly chopped

Juice and zest from ½ large orange

½ tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

Pinch chili flakes

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to finish

4 Cara Cara or blood oranges, peel and pith removed

Pinch salt, plus more to taste

4 (6-ounce) sea bass fillets

2 sprigs basil, leaves picked and roughly torn or roughly chopped

What To Do

1. In a small bowl, combine olives, juice, zest, fennel, chili flakes and 1 tablespoon oil. Gently toss and set aside.

2. Slice off oranges' tops and bottoms, then cut away rind in strips. Working over a bowl, use a paring knife to slice into fruit along each membrane, letting supremes fall into bowl as you go. Squeeze remaining membrane over bowl to collect juice. Season supremes with pinch salt and 1 teaspoon oil.

3. Set a large sauté pan over high heat. Turn on broiler. Season fish with salt. When pan is very hot, swirl in 2 tablespoons oil. Lay fish into hot pan skin-side down. Cook until edges are golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes

4. Transfer pan to broiler and broil fish until cooked through, about 2 minutes.

5. Divide supremes and juice among four shallow bowls. Drizzle fruit with oil. Remove fish from oven and distribute fillets among bowls, nestling them into orange segments. Spoon olives over fish and garnish with torn basil leaves. Drizzle oil over each serving.