Sustainable Pacific halibut is gently cooked in a sophisticated red sauce that makes this dish a great catch with restaurant-worthy appeal. And who doesn’t love a side of herbalicious roasted potatoes? When shopping for a jarred marinara sauce, look for one without added sugar and that is lower in sodium.
2 Tbsp (30 mL) grapeseed oil or sunflower oil, divided 1 1/4 lb (680 g) small red potatoes, quartered 1 Tbsp (15 mL) Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt, divided 1/2 tsp (2 mL) black pepper, divided 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 tsp (5 mL) fennel seeds 1/2 tsp (2 mL) cumin seeds 1/4 tsp (1 mL) red chili flakes 1/2 cup (125 mL) dry red wine 2 cups (500 mL) sugar-free marinara sauce 1 lb (450 g) skinless Pacific halibut fillets 1 cup (250 mL) cooked or canned chickpeas 1/3 cup (80 mL) pitted black olives, sliced 1/4 cup (60 mL) flat-leaf parsley Lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Toss potatoes with 1 Tbsp (15 mL) oil, Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt, and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper. Place potatoes on rimmed baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times, or until tender.
Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add sliced fennel, season with remaining salt and pepper, and cook until very soft, stirring regularly, about 12 minutes. Add garlic, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, and red chili flakes; cook for 1 minute. Add red wine, raise heat to medium, and simmer for 3 minutes. Add marinara sauce and simmer for another 3 minutes. Place halibut, chickpeas, and olives in sauce. Cover skillet, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until fish is opaque throughout, flipping once, about 13 minutes.
Divide sauce and fish among shallow serving bowls. Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. Serve alongside roasted potatoes.
Serves 4.
Each serving contains: 462 calories; 33 g protein; 12 g total fat (1 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 51 g total carbohydrates (10 g sugars, 8 g fibre); 509 mg sodium
source: "A Red Inspired Menu", alive #388, February 2015
Lime juice and ginger add a tropical whiff to this French-Japanese mashup, where seaweed tendrils and Dijon mustard bring out the umami flavours in mushrooms and eggplant. The ingredients might seem to be strange bedfellows, but they work. The result is somewhere between a quiche and a soufflé, with a gluten-free eggplant crust featuring punchy mustard and citrus. This makes for a hearty vegetarian main for brunch, lunch, or dinner with a side salad, or a filling side dish. Fresh or dried If you don’t have fresh thyme and parsley, use 1 tsp (5 mL) dried thyme (divided) and 1 Tbsp (15 mL) dried parsley. The flavours won’t be as pungent, but a little flavour is better than none.
These are the perfect two-bite appetizers. Though the first bite likely won’t “wow” you, the more you chew, the more the salt from the dulse soaks into the avocado and tomato. Wait for it. You can also turn these into breakfast à la avocado toast by substituting a piece of your favourite bread for a slice of baguette. What’s in a name? Theoretically, this should be called a “DLTA” because of the avocado (dulse, lettuce, tomato, and avocado). And if you left out the lettuce, you’d have a “DTA.” A DTA would arguably be a better overall eating experience, since lettuce slightly waters down the rich and creamy result and makes it harder to keep the tomatoes from sliding off the top of the crostini. But the juicy lettuce is actually helpful, since it spreads the salt from the dulse throughout the entire bite, making the “wow” moment come sooner. Besides, neither DLTA nor DTA is as fun an acronym as DLT.
This triple-threat recipe is made with (up to) three types of seaweed. Wakame is essential for the pesto, but kombu boosts the umami punch of sautéed garlic and cherry tomatoes, while kelp noodles are a low-carb substitute for flour-based noodles. Because kelp noodles can be hard to find (you’ll likely need to order them online), feel free to use your favourite boxed linguine, zucchini noodles, shirataki konjac, tofu, or yam noodles instead. You can also leave out the vongole (clams) to keep the recipe plant-based, or use mussels, which are usually more affordable than clams. Both clams and mussels are generally sustainable, as, like seaweed, they’re farmed without feed or antibiotics, unlike many farmed fish operations. Double-duty pesto Make a double batch of seaweed pesto, and enjoy it with eggs, scrambled tofu, or toast.
Spicy popcorn? You bet. This Japanese seven-spice blend combines salty and spicy notes for a healthy snack. If you don’t make your own togarashi, check the container before adding it to your popcorn to make sure it doesn’t contain salt. For an even simpler recipe, skip the togarashi and just grind a few pieces of nori and a pinch of salt in a blender or spice grinder to sprinkle on your popcorn instead. If you’re fresh out of nori, you can always grind wakame, arame, or dulse instead, leaving out the pinch of salt for dulse or any seaweed you taste and find already salty. Shichimi togarashi This customizable spice blend generally features sansho pepper, a.k.a. Japanese prickly ash, a green peppercorn with a citrusy taste, along with seaweed flakes, chili pepper, and dried citrus peel—often yuzu or mandarin orange. If you can’t find sansho, look for Sichuan peppercorn, which has a slightly stronger mouth-tingling effect. You can buy dried orange, mandarin, or tangerine peel. Or you can dehydrate your own, in which case you might as well dehydrate a 1/8 in (3 mm) thick piece of fresh ginger along with the peel. If you can’t handle a lot of chili pepper heat, reduce the pepper to your taste.