Fish, Anyone? (4 of 10)

Photo from realsimple.com

To say that I'm NOT an expert at frying food is a gross understatement.  I didn't grow up eating a lot of fried food (thankfully!) so I didn't learn how to properly prepare it, and just about anything I've tried to deep-fry in a skillet has turned out soggy and.... yucky.  Add to that the knowledge of how bad fried food can be for your health, and I'm generally just not interested. Buuuuuuuuut, I saw this recipe and decided to try it next for the food challenge.  (How bad could it really be?)

I assembled my ingredients... and psyched myself up... but when it came to the moment, I couldn't do it!  I just couldn't take our healthy food and throw it into all that FAT!

(~gasp~ Am I finally learning to respect my body?)

So there I was at dinner-preparation time standing in my kitchen, staring at this nice big pile of cleaned sole and it hit me (duh!) that I should oven-bake my fish sticks!

Image from tasteofhome.com

I was able to quickly find this Taste of Home recipe (may I just randomly mention that I really like Taste of Home's favicon?) and truly, they turned out very nice.  The meal didn't wow my socks off, but they weren't objectionable in any way. :)

When you look at the difference in nutrition, the choice is clear:

Fried Sticks: 1 Serving = Calories 552, Fat 27g, Sat Fat 6g, Cholesterol 193mg, Sodium 1,142mg

Baked Sticks: 1 serving = 278 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 129 mg cholesterol, 718 mg sodium

Wow.


The Husband's review: He liked them a lot, especially that they tasted "light and fresh" as opposed to frozen fish sticks.  He said he'd eat them often, too, but to his credit, he gladly eats anything I cook and doesn't care HOW often it's served! :)

Note: I usually prepare my coleslaw with mayo, a little white sugar and a splash of white or apple cider vinegar, but this time I tried the recipe included with the fried fish, and it turned out quite nice.  The mister wished for more salt on his, but overall it was liked.

Fish, Anyone? (3 of 10)

 Photo from kraftrecipes.com

This recipe from Kraft Foods is one of my tried and true "company favorites" - you know, the kind of recipe that is perfect for company because
1. It's easy-cheesy to prepare
2. Everyone seems to like it, as long as they aren't anti-fish
3. It's easy-cheesy to clean up, and last but certainly not least,
4. If you have a grill, you can prepare this in the summer without heating up your kitchen!

AND, it's fish! AH-mazing.The name even sounds delicious: Garlic & Lemon Tilapia. Mmmmmmmm....

This is great on the grill as directed, but in the (very rainy, here) spring I've done it in packets in the oven with great results.
I've had great luck using a prepared carrot-broccoli slaw and pre-sliced mushrooms for this, but sometimes I julienne my own carrots and use whatever veggies are here and suitable. Also, my favorite marinade for it is Lawry's garlic & herb.... but please experiment and let me know if you find another wonderful combo. I'd like to try it! :)
Happy fish-cooking!

Fish, Anyone? (2 of 10)

So........
I know I pledged and all, but week two was a D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R.  Remember how I said I don't like fishy fish? Well, I didn't have time to go to my tried-and-true fish place where I buy sole that's wild caught in the USA in week 2.  Thinking that it wouldn't matter that much, I grabbed some pre-packed fish that was farmed in the U.S. from our tiny local grocery store (a friend aptly calls it "Shifty Foods").  I took it home and whipped up these delightful-looking Fish Tacos with Cucumber Relish,

Photo from Real Simple Magazine

and let me just tell you, it was BAD.
It was really terrible.
My husband and son choked them down, but they were so FISHY that I couldn't do it.  The whole experience was so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to THINK about buying fish for several weeks! Ugh!!!!!!
But after I worked up my courage again (AND bought some decent fresh fish!!!!) I tried the recipe again, and the results were much different. Much happier.
So without further ado, my evaluation is:  These were really good.  They were the first fish tacos I've tried to make, and since this is a new genre of food to me, I felt very adventurous. :)  The cucumer relish was delectable - I used baby cukes from Costco and they were scrumptious in all sorts of other recipes too - and so easy.  I see it reappearing in our future quite often.  This was so easy - you've got to get some good fish and try it!
Husbandly evaluation:  "They were yummy." (He's busy right now, so I might add to his commentary later. ;)
Let me know if you try these!

Fish, Anyone? (1 of 10)

To put it bluntly, I'm less than enthusiastic about seafood.   Now neither my husband or I would be considered a "picky eater," but it could be said that he is considerably more adventurous when it comes to food than I am.

Give me borscht and wassail and lapin a la cocotte. Give me "Spring Mix" with weed-like mysteries. Give me game and quinoa and kefir, but please... hold the scallops and squid and shrimp and crab and lobster and all manner of  fishy-tasting fish.  (I even try to avoid the fishy-smelling parts of the grocery store!)

That said, I do like salmon (not ALL fish is evil) and tuna salad.... and since being married to my man, I've learned to really enjoy milder fish like tilapia and sole.  This month, Real Simple magazine (no, they're not paying me to mention this, although I wish they were. ;) had an intriguing article that inspired (in progressive order) today's lunch, the lunch conversation, this post and 9 to follow.

I hereby pledge to try one fish recipe from said magazine article each week for the following 9 weeks, with recipe commentary, husbandly evaluation, wifely evaluation and a feather in my cap for adding fish to our diet at least once a week for this time period.

So without further ado, this week we tried (with sole instead of tilapia), Dijon Fish Cakes with Greens!

Photo from Real Simple Magazine

Wifely evaluation:  These were wonderful!   It doesn't hurt that I am a HUGE fan of dill (the dill plants in my garden are happy as a clam, even with our chilly temps, and I can't wait to cook with fresh dill this summer - it means that summer is REALLY here in my opinion!).
Husbandly evaluation: "I like them. And I will say this about them.  It reminded me of our romantic date on top of the space needle." (I was/am quite flattered by this compliment..... Good move, honey. ;)
Recipe commentary: I either mis-measured the dijon, or they needed more than the recipe calls for to really carry the flavor, but even without that touch they were delicate and mild, but flavorful.  Also, I saved time by cooking the sole in my non-stick skillet just until done instead of baking it in the oven. The downside of this was that the fish was a bit moister (even though I drained it) so I ended up using more breadcrumbs than called for to make the cakes "stick together."  I plan to try again with baked fish and will report the results here. :) Yes, they were that good!

Note: I used sole instead of tilapia because I can't readily find tilapia from farms the U.S.  Most of it's from China (which concerns me) and some from Honduras (not as bad, but I want to buy local!).  I plan to check at our local food co-op this week, so hopefully I can try some of these "tilapia recipes" with tilapia!


Note #2: It might seem obvious, but for those of you with whom I've been having gluten-free and dairy-free convo's, I now toast a slice or two of GF bread and make my own bread crumbs in the Magic Bullet for recipes like this.