Recipe for Crispy Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Including fish each week on our menus is pretty easy here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  And now with the increasing prevalence of high quality, sustainable, flash frozen fish in most grocery stores, anyone anywhere can too.  Fish that is processed and frozen right on the boat after being caught retains practically the same nutrient value and flavor as fresh fish (maybe more depending on how "fresh" that fish really is at your grocery store!)

The addition of pistachios to the panko made for a fun change of pace.  The flavor was subtle but worth the extra steps.

Recipe for Herbed Halibut Steaks over White Beans with Tomatoes

If you'd like to get a healthy, simple, and delicious meal on the table in under 20 minutes, I've got the recipe for you.  Check the source for your fish and be sure it is coming from a sustainable source and if you can't get fresh fish, look for flash frozen sustainable fish at high quality grocery stores in the freezer section.

We loved this simple dinner!

Servings: 2
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 halibut steaks
• 1 can white beans, drained
• 1 can (good quality) chopped tomatoes
• Mixed herb seasoning (I used Kirkland Brand Organic No Salt Seasoning)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh basil, finely chopped

Method:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Line a baking pan with parchment.
• Sprinkle olive oil and herb mixture over parchment and over both sides of fish.
• Bake fish for 7-8 minutes, until beginning to flake (don't overcook).
• While fish bakes, heat together the beans and tomatoes, with salt and pepper to taste.
• When beans and tomatoes are heated and ready to serve, stir in basil.
• Serve fish over bean/tomato mix.

Printable recipe

Recipe for Gingered Salmon

I'm dying to do this recipe again.  It was very easy and very satisfying.  Bonus:  also good for you!  I saw a recipe on some website for a gingered salmon served with cucumber and radish salad but despite searching online, I can't find it again!!!!  So I did what all home cooks do-winged it.

Recipe for Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Sesame Salmon and Spinach

Here's a great recipe for when you want to get something on the table quickly but you want to stay on the healthier side of things.  In under thirty minutes you can put this dish together, serve it, and be ready to receive the accolades that will surely be sent your way!

Recipe for Lemony Salmon and Dill Toss

I've been determined not to gain weight over the holidays and so far so good (**I've actually lost a couple of lbs**). We've been eating a lot of meals like this one with the occasional treat/big meal thrown in. I've stayed away from most of the baking and treats that are prevalent in the cooking/blogging/magazine/recipe world right now. Honestly, we haven't missed them and if we have to have a little bit of a treat, I still have some of the Sans Rival cake in the freezer!


I've been instructed to tell you first off that this gets the Mr. ELEB seal of approval.  OK, done, now I'll share the recipe with you!  I was inspired by a recipe from Prevention Magazine to make this dish.  They used canned salmon though and I wanted to use fresh. I also used whole wheat pasta where their recipe called for regular white pasta.


I think this would be fine with canned salmon but if you can get fresh, why not?  My grocery store had some beautiful sockeye salmon so that's what I used.

I love putting tasty healthy food on the table in under thirty minutes!

Recipe for Sweet Potato Wrapped Fish

This dish was inspired by one of my favorite dishes, potato wrapped sea bass, at Isa Restaurant, San Francisco. That dish is smothered in capers, tomatoes, olive oil and herbs-it is really good.  This is different, simpler, sweet potatoes instead of regular, but just as delicious.  

Recipe for Pan-Cooked Vegetables with Crunchy Fish

Once you get the veggies grated for this dish, it is a snap to pull together.  Super flavorful and very satisfying!  This recipe is based on Mark Bittman's recipe by the same name-I love his recipes and enjoy The Food Matters Cookbook immensely.  If you are fortunate enough to have the cookbook, the recipe is on page 440, but if not I also found it on line and the link is below. 

Recipe for Ponzu Cardamom Marinated Grilled Tuna

Yes, cardamom.  I thought I was using ground coriander but I realized when I smelled the pungent aroma of the cardamom that I’d grabbed the wrong bottle.  Ah well, I thought I’d give it a try since I’d already dumped it in the marinade with the tuna.  Cardamom imparts a sweet and savory flavor to chicken, meat, fruit, pastries…why not tuna?

Recipe for Seared Scallops Over Brown Rice and Veggie Salad

Since returning from our recent trip, Mr. ELEB and I have been trying to get back on a healthy eating and exercise plan.  We're doing pretty good-he's actually out for a bike ride as I am typing up this recipe and I just got back from a nice long power walk on the beach, following a twelve mile bike ride yesterday.  On the trip, we had good intentions regarding exercise-packed what we needed to work out because we knew we'd be eating most of our meals at restaurants-however, we just didn't execute!  We did get alot of walking done in NY but...

So I'm working on some nutritious, delicious meals that will fuel our exercise and help us lose those *few* pounds we both gained on the trip.  We really liked this meal.  It was quick, easy to put together, tasty, and has lots of good carbs from veggies and brown rice, and protein from the scallops.

Recipe for Baked Fish with Salsa

This recipe for baked fish is about as easy as it gets.  It’s what I do when I know it’s time for us to have fish but I have no inspiration for a recipe, it’s late and I just want to get dinner on the table in the shortest time possible.  The good news is that it is tasty!

Ingredients for 2 servings:

10 ounces firm white fish

2 tsp olive oil

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Fresh or store bought tomato salsa

Optional: fresh herbs for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put fish in oven proof container.  Combine lemon juice and olive oil and pour over the fish.  Generously salt and pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes or until just flaking.  Remove and top with salsa and fresh herbs.

How easy is that?  What's your "get food on the table in 15 minutes" meal?



Printable Recipe

Recipe for Panko Crusted Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Trying to provide you a fish recipe every week has been good for me-reminding me to be sure we eat fish at least once a week!  This recipe is so simple, yet the tenderness of the fish, the crispiness of the panko crust and the tang of the lemon create a real quality dish.  Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Makes 2 servings, each approximately 322 calories, 12 grams fat, 16 grams carbs, 0 fiber, 36 grams protein;  8 WW Points+

Recipe for "Not Your Mother's Tuna Salad"

Here’s your fish recipe for the week from Eat Little, Eat Big.  We’re lucky to get access to fresh, good quality ahi tuna here.  It’s tempting to eat it every week! 

It’s crucial to only sear the tuna-you don’t want to cook it all the way through.  Buy the best quality tuna that fits in your budget.  And, a little goes a long way-3-4 ounces per person is plenty.

Recipe for Ahi Edamame Nachos

One of our go to snacks is chips (usually a “healthy” variety-whole grain, multi-grain, baked, lower fat etc) and a dip of some sort.  Maybe hummus, maybe edamame purée, or perhaps a wickedly rich jalapeno and artichoke spread when we’re feeling like a treat.  So I was pleased when the folks at Tostitos asked me to try their new Artisan Recipes Flavored Tortilla Chips.  I haven’t seen them yet on Maui.  We always get new stuff later than you do on the mainland :-{

The two flavors I received from Tostitos were Fire-Roasted Chipotle and Roasted Garlic and Black Bean.  Today, I’m trying out the Chipotle flavor.

Recipe for Fish Cakes



As I promised yesterday, here is another fish recipe.  When I bought the fish for yesterday’s dinner, as sometimes happens, the piece of fish that was cut by the fishmonger ended up being a bit more than I wanted.  I just decided to take it all instead of making him cut another piece as I figured I could use the extra for lunch.  Now I don’t know about you, but for me there aren’t many leftover fish dishes that I’ve enjoyed eating.  So rather than poaching all the fish yesterday and having the extra today, I cut about 4 ounces off and stuck it back in the coldest part of the fridge and saved it for today’s lunch.

When I pulled it out, I was thinking along the lines of a fish salad (like tuna fish, chicken salad etc) but I felt a little creative (not one of my strong suits for sure) and decided to try to pull off a fish cake.  I wanted it flavorful, light, and interesting.  That’s pretty much what I got.  I’m very happy with this recipe and will make it again.  It could be a dinner entrée as well as made in small sizes for appetizers.    I ate them for lunch along with a green salad and was quite happy and full until dinner.

Recipe for Poached White Fish

Still on our quest to eat fish several times a week and to eat what is sustainable, I made this flavorful dish.  I am drawn these days to Indian spices and am trying to use them in new ways in my cooking.  I’ll admit that Indian cooking is intimidating to me.  So many ingredients (many of which I can’t find here on Maui!) and so many steps.  I know the results are worth the effort, but I find myself venturing slowly into this arena.

Recipe for Oven Baked Fish Tacos

In the never ending quest for good fish dishes, this fish taco meal was a winner.  I chose to bake the fish instead of frying it and liked it a lot.  It would probably be faster to fry it, but would also add some calories from the oil that would be absorbed.  It was great with a side of my Cilantro Rice. 

Recipe for Salmon and Peas in Parmesan Wine Sauce

There is an old adage “don’t use cheese with fish” so if you are a purist you won’t like this recipe.  We, however, loved it!  I’m always looking for new fish recipes and hadn’t come across anything lately that really impressed me, so I went with my gut and pulled this together.  It took less than thirty minutes from start to finish and it will definitely be in the rotation going forward.

Makes 4 servings, each approximately 344 calories, 16 grams fat, 13 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 32 grams protein; 8 WW Points+     (plus whatever pasta you use)

Recipe and Method for Pan Sauteed Halibut

I hope you had a nice holiday and are enjoying time with friends and family.


How do you cook your fish?  You are eating fish a couple of times a week, right?  We try very hard and most weeks we get at least two servings of fish in. 


I never really liked fish until I was well into my 30's.  I'm still a bit picky about what fish I eat.  Of course, I try to make sure it's fresh not farmed and that it's on the sustainability list or marked as from a sustainable source (WF Market is great for this).


I also don't like to get a fish bone in my mouth.  We all have our "things" and this is one of mine.  I basically have to stop eating if I get a bone in my mouth-Ewwww.  Sorry!  So I stay away from fish that have little bones that are impossible to remove prior to cooking.

OK, enough about me.  Oh, one more thing, I don't like my fish undercooked.  I know it's all the rage for chefs to serve fish "medium rare" but I like mine cooked so it is still slightly translucent and still flavorful, tender and moist, but not with that raw texture (except for ahi tuna).  I always ask the server in a restaurant to be sure that is how my fish is cooked.  And at home, of course, I have control over that.

Here's how I tell if the fish is cooked just right.  First, most fish takes less than 3-4 minutes per side to cook, so use that as a guide.  The true indication that the fish is no longer raw is that it will flake easily when you push down gently with a spatula.

I had this beautiful piece of halibut, seasoned it with some Penzey's Northwoods Seasoning that a friend gave me, and cooked it in a splash of olive oil over med-high heat for 3 minutes each side. (You can use any dried seasoning that you like, but if you haven't tried Penzey's Seasonings I heartily recommend them-my opinion, not paid for!)

You can see here how it flaked when I checked for doneness.

And see, it is still moist and slightly translucent inside.  I served this with some of my mango salsa, steamed spinach, and some mashed white potatoes mixed with purple sweet potatoes and some chives from my garden-YUM!

What fish are you eating and what's your favorite way to prepare it?

Recipe for Sardine Salad Appetizer

OK, this will either be something you love or not.  I’d never eaten sardines before.  They just freak me out-little fishy things with teeny bones. Eww.

But, I keep reading how good they are for you, packed with all those omega-3s and tons of B12.  Plus they are a good source of lean protein.

So I bit the bullet and bought some when I came across cans of sardines packed in water, no bones, no skin.  So great, now what do I do with them?  Well, I needed an appetizer for Thanksgiving and I wanted something light and healthy so I figured I could make up a light fish salad kind of thing and spread it on some slices of cucumber.  Here’s how it turned out.  I liked it a lot.  Others did too, but not everyone!

Recipe for Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Do you need to get back on a healthy meal plan after Thanksgiving?  This is the recipe to help you get started.  I had a beautiful piece of salmon for our fish night and had marked this recipe from Bon Appétit.  It’s a great work night recipe or any other night when you want to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes.  I’ve made only a very few changes from the original.

2 servings, each approximately 325 calories, 14 grams fat, 3.5 grams carbs, 45 grams protein