Back in the day, when I was in college, I worked at a sports bar called the Gainesville Ale House. During my 3 years there, I waited tables, hostessed, expo’d, and even had a short stint as a prep cook one summer. If you’ve ever worked at a restaurant, especially while in college, then you probably remember eating a lot of your meals there…usually for the sake of convenience and even more so for the employee discount. You really couldn’t beat that employee discount.

One of the meals I ate the most while I worked at the Ale House was the blackened tuna ceasar salad. Sometimes I would switch it up and have blackened grouper or mahi, I loved it and ordered it all the time. This salad here that I made for dinner last night reminded me a lot of those days.
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I have been staring at a jar of Five Spice Powder in my pantry for quite some time now.  Something inspired me to use it the other day when I was thinking of how I wanted to cook our fish for dinner.  I was totally caught off guard when I opened up and smelled the jar…this spice mixture is so fragrant, which is I guess what you could expect from a combination of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise and ginger.  I’m not sure what I was expecting…but regardless, I was pleasantly surprised.

Lately my weekly meal planning has consisted of at least 1 or 2 nights of eating fish or seafood.  What I love about cooking with fish is how easily and quickly it cooks up.  You can really play around with seasonings and sides and make something different every time.  This dish was ready in no time and would work well for any family on a busy weeknight.  To serve with this fish I put together a healthy stir fry of vegetables that cooked up in under 10 minutes.  Take shortcuts and buy pre-cut broccoli and carrots at the grocery store to save yourself some prep time.  If you’ve got a few extra minutes, slice up an onion and some red peppers and you’ve got yourself a colorful side dish for your fish that is nothing but good for you!

Both of my kids really enjoyed this so I will be sure to make it again!

Baked Asian 5 Spice Mahi Mahi

Ingredients:

• 4 Mahi Mahi fillets (though I do prefer fresh, I use frozen, defrosted mahi mahi from Costco for convenience!)
• 2-3 tsp canola oil (or your preference, I used grapeseed oil)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder (you can find this in the Asian section)
• 1 tsp minced ginger (fresh or jarred)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   In a small bowl combine both oils, 5 spice powder, ginger, and garlic. Place the fish fillets in a glass baking dish coated in nonstick spray. Coat both sides of fish with spice mixture. Pour remainder of mixture evenly over fish. Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes, (depending on thickness - refer to 10 minute per inch rule) until fish is flaky.
2. Serve with stir fried vegetables.

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Yesterday, during my new found 3 hours of (child-free) freedom, I checked out a local fish market called Lighthouse Seafood in Lake Mary that I’ve been wanting to check out for a long time. Apparently they have been around for 6 years…I had no idea! I’m sad that I didn’t visit them sooner. They have some great stuff in their little shop, most of it caught by their own boats right off our coasts. You would think that wouldn’t be so uncommon here in FL, but I have not found many local fish markets in the area that actually catch their own fish. I had a nice chat with the owner Glenda and it turns out she is from the same area in S. Florida that my hubby grew up in, and he actually knows her niece from high school…small world! I love visiting mom and pop shops, I literally walked in and said I wanted to pick up something for dinner and next thing you know we are talking recipes and I left with a beautiful piece of fish.

What I really loved about Lighthouse Seafood – other than the actual seafood – is that they have a wall full of their own recipes to share with their customers! Little things like that really stick with me…you can tell these people really love what they do and take care of their customers too. I’m sending my hubby there for his next blogging assignment soon! Speaking of…it made me smile that so many of you enjoyed his first blog post last week! It was really fun for him (and for me) and I am thrilled that he got into the “cooking thing” and might actually do it again!

Ok, now onto the recipe…I found this recipe on the “recipe wall” at the fish market, when I told Glenda the owner that I wanted to grill some fish for dinner she walked me right over to this recipe…it sounded absolutely delicious!

And it was!!

Grilled Rosemary Swordfish with Capers

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 2 TB lemon juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 4 swordfish steaks
• 2 tsp capers

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add rosemary and garlic and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain oil to remove the garlic and rosemary and combine with lemon juice and white wine in plastic storage bag.
2. Sprinkle both sides of sword fish with salt and fresh ground pepper. Add swordfish to the marinade, squeeze out excess air and seal, gently combine fish with marinade. Marinate, refrigerated, for 30 minutes.
3. Heat grill and when ready remove steaks from marinade and pat dry. Reserve marinade. Brush oil onto grill to avoid sticking. Grill 4-5 minutes per side (about 10 minutes per inch of thickness), removing from grill when just slightly undercooked in the middle - the fish will finish cooking on their own.
4. While the swordfish is being grilled, cook reserved marinade over medium heat until bubbling, whisking to combine. Add capers to sauce. When swordfish is cooked, pour over fish and serve.
5. (Swordfish can be substituted with any firm grillable fish, such as grouper or mahi.)

Recipe from Lighthouse Seafood in Lake Mary, FL

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I’ll have to admit, when I first saw this recipe as a pick for our Craving Ellie in my Belly group, I was a little hesitant about making it. As much as I love to cook, I have hangups about cooking certain types of food (for example…roasts and anything with yeast!). Curry is not something I am very familiar with, though I know I’ve had a few curry dishes in the past that I absolutely loved. After a little self talking, I convinced myself that this was another great opportunity to cook out of my comfort zone. I get in my share of cooking ruts and know how important it is to for me keep things interesting in the kitchen.

The ingredient list of this recipe is fairly simple, you can most likely find red curry paste in the Asian aisle of your grocery store or easily find curry powder with the spices. I went for the red curry paste. I also used some frozen mahi-mahi that I had on hand.

What a delight!
This dish was so light and tasty, my husband and I really enjoyed it. The flavor combination was perfect, I’m always happy cooking with cilantro and lime!
I will definitely be making it again…
next time will be trying this recipe with some shrimp and a little extra heat!

A big thank you to Liz over at The Not So Skinny Kitchen for choosing a recipe that I might have normally skipped over. Visit her blog along with the other members of CEimB to see their versions and variations of this great recipe!

Thai-Style Mahi with Coconut-Curry Broth

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 4 shallots, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste, or 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon, plus more for seasoning
• 4 (6-ounce) pieces mahi-mahi
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked whole wheat orzo or brown rice, for serving
• Steamed spinach, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes.
2. Season the mahi with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange the fish in the pan and gently shake the pan so the fish is coated with the sauce. Cover and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 7 minutes.
3. Arrange a pile of steamed spinach in the bottom of 4 soup plates. Top with the fish fillets. Stir the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice into the sauce and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle the sauce over the fish and serve with orzo or rice.

Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger, The Food You Crave or Food Network

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Cooking Light week continues! See Day 4 here!

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This is another one of Mary Ann’s recipes that I have tried recently, I made this along side her potstickers one Friday night and I felt like we were eating guilt free take out. It was so much better than takeout because I knew exactly what was going in it and knew it was all so fresh. Look at all those veggies!

The original recipe calls for chicken, but I found some mahi mahi on sale that day and decided to make it a fish and veggie stir fry instead. Once everything was cooked I tossed the mahi, veggies and sauce with some cooked soba noodles.

This really was oh so good. I can’t wait to make it again.

Zucchini and Mahi Stir Fry

Ingredients:

Marinate:

• 1 pound cubed mahi mahi (with fish only marinate for 20-30 minutes max)
• 1 Tbls oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbls soy sauce

• 2 large zucchinis, halved and sliced 1" thick
• 2-3 yellow squash, halved and sliced 1" thick
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 1 large carrot, halved and sliced
• 1 tsp ginger root, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Mix and set aside until needed- 1 Tbls cornstarch, ½ tsp salt, ¼ cup oyster sauce, ¼ cup water.
2. Heat 1 Tbls oil in wok until hot. Stir in half of the fish and cook until done. Remove fish and repeat with other half. Heat 1 Tbls oil in wok and stir in vegetables and flavorings. Stir fry veggies until tender and then add cooked fish. Stir in sauce mix, stir and cook until thickened. Serve with soba noodles or hot rice if desired.

Recipe adapted from Meet Me in the Kitchen

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(for a printable version of this recipe click here)

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