Miso-Glazed Salmon

This dish was inspired by my continued effort to eat healthier and eat more fish. I've already reached my "recommended" weight gain for this pregnancy. I'm an over-achiever that way. And since I still have a while to go, I am (sometimes) watching what I eat a bit more carefully. Apparently, it's a good idea to watch what you eat, even if you're not pregnant, but whatever. Plus fish is good for the baby's brain development - grow baby brain, grow! :)

I've always adored miso-glazed fish that you get at restaurants and was surprised to find that it is SUPER easy to make at home. Hardly any prep and minimal clean up, it's so quick and so good for you too. I'm definitely adding it to the regular rotation!

Ingredients:
- Salmon
- Miso paste
- Honey
- Soy
- Rice wine vinegar
- Ginger
- Mirin
- Water

Directions:
- Mix the miso paste, a bit of hot water, honey, soy, rice wine vinegar, grated ginger (I used a microplane grater), and mirin in a bowl to taste. If you're missing any of the ingredients (besides the miso), feel free to substitute. Honey and mirin can be replaced by brown sugar, etc. And honestly, if you're missing any of the other ingredients, it's fine to omit them altogether. The main thing you need is the miso and something sweet.
- Put the mixture in the microwave just long enough so that it thickens up a bit. It shouldn't take long.
- Put the salmon on some foil to make cleanup a cinch.
- Brush half of the glaze onto the salmon and pop it under a broiler for about 15 minutes. Since I was just making this for the two of us, I used our toaster oven instead of the full-sized and it still turned out great.
- After 15 minutes, take the fish out and brush on another layer of glaze and pop it back under the broiler until the fish has cooked through. For me, it took another 15 minutes, but it really depends on how thick your fish is and how strong your broiler is.
- Serve it with brown rice and steamed broccoli and you've got yourself a quick and healthy dinner. And if you have any extra sauce left, drizzle it over the rice and veggies.

Fish Tacos

Fish is good for you, so I bought a bag of frozen tilapia in an effort to "be healthier". HA! We'll see how long that lasts :)

We made fish tacos with the tilapia and it was super tasty. If this is what all "healthier" food tastes like, I think I can definitely keep this up!

Ingredients:
- Tilapia or other mild flavored fish
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chili powder
- Tortillas (corn is more traditional, but all we had was flour, which worked out great too)
- Garnish
- Cabbage
- Black beans
- Diced tomatoes
- Diced avocado
- Sour cream
- Hot sauce/salsa (we like Tapitio)
- Lime

Directions:
- Season the fish with salt, pepper and chili powder.
- Pan fry the fish with a tiny bit of oil until cooked through.
- Place the fish along with the garnishes of your choice on a tortilla.
- Fold it over and enjoy it guilt-free!

Tuna Sashimi

And last but definitely not least, one of our friends went fishing the day before and caught some awesome fresh tuna and was kind enough to bring some to share with us. How amazing is that?

It was so fresh and delicious. Just a little soy and wasabi. It doesn't get any better than that...

Thanks Ryan!!!

Blackened Mahi Mahi, Couscous, and Asparagus

We don't eat much fish in this household, but after eating this one, the hubz and I decided that we should probably try to change that.

We have the in-laws over every so often, and every time they come, they bring a bunch of food with them. This time, they left behind two big mahi mahi steaks. Since mahi mahi is a very "meaty" fish, we thought they would go well with a nice bold flavor instead of the delicate flavors usually associated with fish, and decided on blackened mahi mahi.

This whole meal was shockingly quick and easy while being super tasty and healthy. I even cheated by using the microwave for the asparagus and was pleasantly surprised by the results. I'm definitely keeping that little trick in my repetoire from now on!


Anyway, if you'd like to give this meal a try, here's how...

Ingredients:
For the fish -
- Mahi Mahi or any other "meaty" fish
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
- Oregano
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Cayenne
- Cumin

For the asparagus -
- Asparagus spears
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon

For the couscous -
- Couscous
- Water or some sort of broth
- Salt

For garnish (optional) -
- Lemon
- Parsley

Directions:
For the fish -
- Mix the spices in a bowl and pat a nice generous layer on to both sides of the fish filet.
- Heat a nice heavy-bottomed pan (we used our castiron) until smoking hot.
- If desired, add a bit of oil to the pan, though we found it wasn't necessary.
- Put the fish in the pan and put the lid on. Don't touch it until a nice crust has formed (a few minutes, depending on how thick your fish is).
- Flip the fish and repeat the step above and leave it in the pan until the fish has cooked through.

For the asparagus -
- Rinse the asparagus and trim off the tough ends.
- Some of my asparagus were monstrously thick, so I split them down the middle length-wise to make them more uniform. This isn't necessary, but it's what I did.
- Lay the asparagus flat in a dish and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
- Pop them in the microwave until they're cooked but still have a crunch to them (this took about 1.5 minutes for me, but it'll depend on your microwave and how thick your asparagus are).
- Squeeze some lemon juice over the asparagus and they're ready to serve!

For the Couscous -
- Follow the directions on the back of the box.
For me, I brought the chicken stock and a bit of salt to a boil on the stove top, added the couscous. Then I turned off the heat, put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes. I then fluffed it with a fork and served it with the fish and asparagus.

My hubz came up with both versions of the presentation. Pretty good, huh?

Grilled Salmon and Mango Salsa

We bought two mangoes a while ago but they weren't ripe yet, so I've been waiting to make this for a while now. I still have one more mango that I haven't decided what to do with yet. Any suggestions?

Anyway, with our first mango, we made grilled salmon with a mango salsa, baked sweet potato fries and a sugar snap pea stir fry. The mango salsa was great and could be used on so many things. Grilled chicken, pork chops, a nice salad. So many possibilities!

The sweet potato fries were REALLY sweet. A bit too sweet in fact. Next time I'll probably make regular potatoes and save the sweet potatoes for "dessert".

Overall though, it was a great meal.

Mango Salsa -
- 1 mango diced (like the picture below)
- a few super thin slices of onion diced
- a pinch of salt
- a squeeze of lemon or lime
- chopped parsley (optional)
- a pinch of sugar or honey if necessary (for mangoes that aren't quite ripe enough)

Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit for a while for the flavors to infuse each other. If you'd like, you can obviously add other diced fruits to the salsa. Pineapple or tomatoes come to mind a some good additions.


Salmon -
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill for a few minutes on each side until the light pink comes up about 1/3 of the way. I prefer the center to be slightly raw but warmed through, but feel free to cook it more or according to your own preferences.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries -
Peel sweet potato and cut into matchsticks. Put in a bowl and drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper, paprika and cumin (or whatever spices you like) and toss to coat. Lay it in a single layer on parchment paper or a silpat. Place it in a 400deg oven until cooked through (maybe 30 minutes? I wasn't really paying attention). You can also put it in the microwave for a bit before putting it in the oven to speed up cooking.

Sugar Snap Pea Stir Fry -
Heat some oil in a pan. Add crushed garlic, add sugar snap peas, add a few pinches of salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Stir until warm and cooked but still crunchy.

Sushi Part II - Nigiri

So in addition to the sushi rolls, I also made some sushi nigiri with the salmon that I skinned for the salmon skin rolls.

Did you know that there are no real government regulations for "sushi grade" fish? To make raw fish safe for consumption, you just need to be concerned with parasites. All you have to do to kill the parasites is to freeze the fish at -4°F or below for 7 days or -31°F for 15 hours. Of course freshness and proper handling is important to avoid bacteria as well.

So now that our fish is safe to eat, let's make some!

Take the fish and slice at a slant into bite size pieces. For the rice, flavor it with rice vinegar and sugar to taste like you did with the rolls. Wet your hands to keep the rice from sticking to your hands and squish it in your hands to shape it into rectangles. Place the fish on top, dip in soy and wasabi and pop it in your mouth. Yum! If you want, you can also cut some thin strips of nori (seaweed) to wrap around the fish and rice and glue the ends together with a grain or two of rice.

I highly recommend making your own nigiri if you have can find good fresh fish. This was sooo much sweeter and more tender than most restaurants. And the few restaurants that do taste this good are always outrageously priced.

I hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoyed ours!