Fish "Guidelines"

So I normally try to change up what I’m eating in a day or even in a few days in a row. However, due to some slightly poor planning, I found myself cooking fish for dinner last night after a fish lunch. As a sidebar, I’ve learned that I can cook fish at work with veggies in the toaster oven! This is an AWESOME discovery as I absolutely refuse to eat re-heated seafood or fish. And I know I’m not crazy because a friend at work agreed with me as I was preparing my fabulous fishy lunch. Microwaved protein in general grosses me out, as it gets that boingy, sketchy Chinese restaurant quality. But before my recent Easter gift of a lunch crockpot, I nuked chicken, beef, what have you. The lunch crockpot is a wonder for another day, but if you Google lunch crockpot, you’ll likely find it and I assure you its worth every nickel! However, I absolutely WILL NAAAAHT reheat fish and seafood. Holy tangent Batman! Back to the fish.

So again, due to my poor planning, I was forced to cook fish for dinner last night as it defrosts quickly. So I found a great recipe on All Recipes for Ginger Glazed Mahi. Per usual I completely adapted the recipe to make me happy, but the original recipe was a great guideline

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Here’s the breakdown

2 Mahi Filets

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ inches of fresh ginger, grated

*I typically store fresh ginger in the freezer then grate it on a microplane

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

3 Tbsp. honey

2 tsp olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients and put in a gallon size Ziploc bag. When you’re mixing the ingredients for the “glaze” you may have to microwave it quickly to break down the honey. Then add the fish and put it in the fridge to marry for about 30 minutes. The longer the better, but I was post workout and starving so 30 for me! Then, because Mahi is strong enough to hold up to the grill, I grilled them. Get your grill screaming hot and cook for about 5 minutes per side, lid down.

Then, because I had an Asian flavor going with the fish I decided on a quick and easy veggie stir fry. Now, don’t forget the most important of stir fry rules. Add so much seasoning you think its going to be terrible!

Stir Fry breakdown

3 baby bok choy, chopped

1-8oz package snap peas

1 container pre-sliced shitake mushrooms

*make it easy on yourself

1 ½ - 2 cups bean sprouts

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp crushed red pepper

*the wet stuff, not dried spices

olive oil

sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds

In your pan (preferably a wok) heat 1 Tbsp or so of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper. Sauté for about 1 or 2 minutes. Then add the snap peas tossing it all around. Cook for about 3-4 minutes and then add the bok choy and mushrooms. Toss everything around (add more oil if you need it and you likely will) cook for about 5 more minutes. Then add the bean sprouts. Toss around and then add a drizzle (a very small one) of sesame oil. You won’t need a lot, this stuff is potent. Toss it all around and cook for another minute. The only rule here is I would make sure the bok choy gets wilty. It’ll retain some of its crunch, and you totally want that, but you don’t want it raw. Then sprinkle the sesame seeds.

Well, this was a super yummy Asian inspired meal on the fly and even though it meant eating fish for lunch and dinner, I was perfectly content. And feeling a bit healthy.