Get fish into your diet
Expert Nutritional Therapist Steve Hines shares how he gets fish into his diet.
As an island nation surrounded by the sea and it’s rich produce you would think we
would be a nation of seafood lovers, however the palate of the British nation doesn’t
extend much beyond fish fingers, cod and chips and tinned tuna. This may in part
be due to the lost art of preparing and cooking seafood or to the fact that people
claim they don’t like fish. But it needn’t be this way. With a little bit of imagination
you can make fish and seafood taste delicious and it takes no time at all to cook.
If you take a trip down to your local fish monger you will see a whole host of
different produce and expanding your horizons beyond cod and tuna can reignite
your interest in this delicious food.
Look out for oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, trout, pilchards, herring as well as
salmon. Mackerel for instance is quite cheap, and trout is a cheaper alternative to
salmon. For white fish look out for pollock, sea bass, sea bream, gurnard as well as
cod and haddock. Some other types of fish such as pangasius, snapper, tilapia are
also becoming popular and can be bought at the fish monger. Then of course there
is seafood such as mussels, prawns, crab and cockles.
Fresh fish is always better but eating some tinned fish now and then is also a good
way to get more of this food into your diet. For instance as well as tinned tuna
tinned mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon can also be bought quite cheaply
in the supermarket
If you don’t know what to do with fish just try one of these simple recipes.
Mackerel pate
Drain then empty a tin of mackerel into a bowel; add a dash of olive oil, some
smoked paprika, salt and pepper and blend together with a hand held food
processor (or mush together with a fork). Spread over two rice cakes for a delicious
snack.
Baked salmon with roasted vegetables
Cover the salmon fillet in sesame seeds and set aside. Chop up some Mediterranean
vegetables such as courgette, aubergine, peppers and onions and roast them in
olive oil, garlic, chilli and thyme for 30 minutes or so. For the last 12-15 minutes of
the vegetables cooking throw the salmon in the oven and serve the salmon on a bed
of the vegetables.
Fish parcels
Use Pollock, sea bream, gurnard or mackerel. For a Mediterranean flavour place
the fish on a base of fennel in tin foil, add a dash of olive oil, some thyme and oregano
and some lemon juice. Fold up the parcel and place in the oven for 15 minutes at
180 degrees Celsius. Serve with a garden salad, chopped tomatoes and olives. For an
oriental flavour add the fish to a base of chopped chillies, ginger, garlic and lemon
grass, add a dash of sesame oil and tamari sauce and cook. Serve with whole grain
rice and some steamed bok choy.
Fish and chips
Dice up some potato or sweet potato into wedges (leave the skin on) and par boil
for 10 minutes, then toss them in oil or butter and place in a hot oven for 20-30
minutes until cooked and crisp on the outside. In the mean time take some white
fish like sea bass or pangasius, season with salt and pepper, bay leaves and a sprig
of thyme and steam bake (place some water in the bottom of the baking tray and
cover with foil) for 15-20 minutes. Serve with the potatoes and some tinned mushy
peas.
Welsh mussels
Dice up an onion and a leek and sweat down in some butter. Chop up some smoked
bacon back and add to the onion and leeks. Finally throw in your mussels and cover
until the mussels open and then serve. Throw away any mussels that have not
opened.
Squid salad
Chop up some squid and fry it off in some olive oil with chilli flakes, garlic, salt and
pepper. Serve on a bed of mixed salad.
There you go, quick simple and delicious seafood in less than 30 minutes
(often times 15-20 minutes). See below why nutritional therapist Steve Hines believes
we should be eating more protein like fish.
