Eat More Fish: Healthy Food That Tastes Great and is Easy to Make

I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting experts in their fields – for this excerpt, it’s Lynne Viera, founder of how2heroes.

I grew up in a land-locked state where fish got a bad rap. As a small child in Tennessee, our choices consisted of breaded, processed fish sticks or fried catfish at a local fish fry. No wonder we kids always screamed, “Yuk!” if Mom said it was fish night. (Nothing against Mrs. Paul, I mind you).

Today, however, availability of fresh fish is more extensive. Not to mention, the health benefits of fish are widely touted. It pleases me greatly when I hear, “Yum!” from my six-year-old if we’re having fish for dinner (even if he does say, “Mommy, the chicken is delicious!”).

To improve your fish dish success rate and enhance the cooking experience, take note of a few of these tips and tricks.

Buy in season. Just as I mentioned last week, like vegetables and fruit, fish that’s fresh and in-season tastes so much better! In fact, all you need is salt and pepper to make a meal fit for a king. With olive oil and lemon juice, and fresh herbs from the garden, you can easily and quickly dress up the dish even more, with only a few extra minutes of time and effort in the kitchen.

Find a local fishmonger. You’ll get more variety and fresher fish from your local fishmonger. Take it from Lynne: “They know where the fish is from and when it arrived. They can help you choose a fish based on your taste and even help with preparation tips. They are a tremendous resource! Relying on their expertise and knowledge, you will likely be more adventurous. By mixing up your fish repertoire with a variety of textures and flavors, you won’t get bored. For instance, fresh anchovies and sardines bear no resemblance to the canned stuff and are SO good for you. Omega-3s up the yin-yang!”

Don’t overcook fish. To me, nothing is worse than a piece of fish that is dry, flavorless and overcooked. To avoid this predicament at home, I always check the fish as I’m cooking it, even if it means I have a few slashes here and there to deter its beauty. You can also use a thermometer if you are as stickler for appearance.

According to Lynne, “Fish cooks quickly. Depending on thickness, 3-5 minutes per side in a sauté pan is all you need. You can also pan sear it skin side down for 3 minutes (don’t try to move around the pan before then or you might tear the skin), flip it and finish in the oven at 350 for another 4 minutes or so.

For those who say they don’t have time to cook, a whole branzino takes 4 minutes each side in the broiler. Steam some vegetables & make some couscous and Bob’s your uncle. You can be done in about 10 minutes flat.”

Decrease the temperature. In addition to the previous cooking tips, another way to avoid overcooking fish is to turn down the heat. If you are grilling, medium heat is preferable to high heat. If you are searing (a way I love to cook fish for locking in flavor), you can blast the heat for one side of the fish, then turn the heat down when you turn the piece over. Baking fish in the oven at a low temperature might be a more forgiving way to start out. And if you have a BBQ smoker, give it a try!

Sometimes, I take fish off the heat when it is not quite “done” and let it continue to “cook” for another five minutes on a plate (with some saran wrap on top of it to seal in the heat).

Select more forgiving fish. According to Lynne, oily types of fish are more forgiving fish – salmon, branzino (aka European sea bass), bluefish. If you’re cooking fish for the first time, avoid halibut and more steak-like fish that will dry out easier.

Eat it whole. Lynne’s tip: “Cooking a fish whole will also keep it more moist. Have the fishmonger gut it, then take it home and fill the cavity with lemon slices and herbs of your choice. Rub a little olive oil on the fish, salt it then bake or broil.”

To bear further credence to Lynne’s words, I prepared a whole salmon last summer just as she suggests, then placed on a grill wrapped in aluminum foil. It was magnificent!!

Try it rare. In my opinion, some fish tastes great when “pink” or rare in the middle. For example, ahi tuna is wonderful when seared, yet raw on the inside. Salmon is another fish which is tasty when pink. Like meats, though, everyone has their own tolerance to rareness. If you don’t like sushi, you may prefer to cook the pink right out of it.

Experiment with cooking methods. Some fish are better suited for grilling, some for pan frying and others for baking. Even others are versatile enough to handle the heat regardless of the source. For example, salmon is one of those fish well-suited for any cooking surface or heat type. A more flakey fish like Dover sole, would completely fall through the grates if you tried to grill it (though there are also grill pans to avoid this problem).

If you are unsure about how to prepare a certain variety of fish, ask your fishmonger or refer to reliable web sites and cookbooks.  A few minutes of research might save you time and trouble and ensure a successful meal.

Try other types of seafood, too. According to Lynne, “In addition to fish, there are a myriad of healthy seafood dishes that are easy to make: mussels, paella (put whatever your favorite seafoods are together in one big, happy pan), steamed clams or as we call them here in Massachusetts, quahogs. Shrimp has so many quick easy incarnations as well, including stir-fries and kebabs.”

Enjoy the health benefits! The Mayo Clinic suggests that eating one to two servings of fish a week could reduce your risk of dying of a heart attack by a third or more. The unsaturated fats in fish, called Omega-3 fatty acids, may reduce cholesterol, improve children’s ability to learn, lower blood pressure and enhance immunity, just to name a few.

For more more great recipes and how2tips, check out the following:

Fish Education:  Monkfish, Salmon & Branzino - http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/fish-education-monkfish-salmon-branzino

Whole Roasted Red Snapper (filmed at Saveur Magazine test kitchen):  http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/whole-roasted-red-snapper

Sauteed Monkfish: http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/sauteed-monkfish

Crispy Skin Branzino:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/crispy-skin-branzino

Butter-Steamed Salmon:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/butter-steamed-salmon

Sesame-Ginger Crusted Salmon:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/sesame-ginger-crusted-salmon

Mussels: http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/fragrant-thai-mussels-w-lime-green-papay

Paella: http://how2heroes.com/videos/seafood/paella-valenciana

About Lynne

Lynne Viera is the Founder of how2heroes, the premiere how-to video cooking website. Lynne combined her expertise in creating websites for major brands like Safeway and National Geographic Channel (as the Founder/CEO of Rival Marketing) and her passion for food to create this world-class website destination for people who really want to learn how to cook. Every video is original and carefully shot so viewers can easily replicate the recipes and techniques being demonstrated in the videos. The site features a combination of master chefs like Ming Tsai, Angelo Sosa (Top Chef) and Jason Santos (Hell’s Kitchen) as well as home cooks, farmers, fishmongers – anyone who has creative cooking ideas to share.

Tuesday Musings – A Smörgåsbord

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

As a follow up to last Wednesday’s post, “Cooking in Season: Making Food that Tastes Great and is Easy to Make,” I am now sharing more great seasonal recipes from Lynne Viera, cooking expert and founder of how2heroes. These recipes are especially helpful because you can watch a video then print out the recipe, all from the same web page. I can’t wait to try some of the zucchini recipes!

Romesco

Caponata (shot at King Arthur Flour – phenomenal Asiago rounds companion video that goes with it)

Asiago Rounds

Zucchini Bread (Lynne’s recipe)

Zucchini Lasagna

Zucchini Primavera (Lynne loves this recipe – zucchini used in place of pasta)

Vegetable Lasagna

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Lynne’s recipe)

Stuffed Pumpkins (very versatile – so good – Lynne’s recipe)

Squash Soup

Potato Leek Soup (shot in a food cart in Portland, OR!)

Inspiring Words

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bonnie St. John, author, inspirational speaker,  TV personality, Olympic medalist, Rhodes scholar and Harvard grad, just to name a few of her remarkable accomplishments (not remotely intimidating, by the way). I am also reading one of her books, How Strong Women Pray, and I highly recommend it! Live Your Joy is next in line.

Many Thanks

Thanks to Courtney and Jason at Meylah, a business that is bringing the world closer through creativity, for posting an interview with me last Friday. If you want to read it, click here.

The Power of Mastermind Groups in Achieving Success

Earlier in the summer, I wrote a series on using visualization to achieve your goals. My inspiration in writing these posts was experimentation with visualization as part of my mastermind group. Since this time, I have encountered a number of people who are unaware of the existence and purpose of mastermind alliances.

What is a mastermind group?

The basic purpose of a mastermind group is for members to create and achieve personal and/or professional goals, brainstorm ideas and support/encourage one another.

The concept of the mastermind group was introduced by Napoleon Hill in the 1930’s. In his book, “Think and Grow Rich,” he defined a mastermind alliance as the “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

Who should form a group/attend one?

When we formed our mastermind group, the “common threads” among the members were: 1) a desire to achieve an entrepreneurial goal and 2) a similar life stage (age, family, kids). We felt these two factors would drive a common union to divide and conquer the challenges that lay ahead. Other groups might develop around a similar interest, skill set, industry or even corporation.

Regardless of how you form a group, all participants must be committed and willing to provide open, honest feedback to others. In addition, you must be willing to share your own strengths, weaknesses, fears and aspirations.

Everyone must unanimously approve who belongs to the group, and you should start with a minimum of 3-4 individuals.

What is the basic construct?

Groups can meet once/week or once/month, in-person, by phone or even via online message boards. Our group convenes every other week via phone (as none of us lives in the same city).

In our initial meetings, we carried out a number of exercises, including the following:

• We collected “letters of perceptions” from friends, colleagues and/or acquaintances that could offer helpful insight into who we are as people
• We developed 5-year goals in each of the following aspects of our lives: self, family, work, finances, spirituality and friends
• We developed affirmations that we say aloud at least once/day on behalf of one another

On subsequent calls, our intention is to have a set agenda, giving each participant a chance to share relevant progress, setbacks, accomplishments and challenges. Others listen then offer suggestions, recommendations, possible solutions, etc.

Note that we intentionally included personal goals and professional ones, and dedicate time on our calls to both aspects of our lives. If a group wanted to limit their discussion to professional goals, it’s totally up to the respective group members.

How does the group evolve?

The goal of the group, of course, is for everyone to achieve their stated goals via mutual support of and accountability to one another. In fact, one of our group members was part of a mastermind group 10+ years prior and achieved 90% of her stated goals. That’s an impressive success rate!

Our group was formed at the end of 2009 and has faced some unforeseen obstacles during the course of this year. One member got a new job and moved to a new city. Another lady was actually diagnosed with breast cancer. I, also, have been through some unexpected personal challenges. These real life circumstances have altered the focus of bi-weekly discussions and short-term goals. And though our challenges may have been somewhat extreme, the reality of life is that events rarely unfold without bumps in the road.

Within this context, I have learned a lot from my fellow members/friends about coping techniques, power of prayer, positive affirmation, giving and gratitude, continued visualization and more – all to maintain a belief in self and a consistent, positive frame for achieving life goals.

We will continue to re-evaluate our goals, tweak affirmations and/or add new ones and support/encourage one another. These are many of the reasons I believe in the power of the mastermind network.

Other resources you may enjoy reading:

The Success Alliance

Sid Savara’s How to Start and Run a Mastermind Group

Evan Carmichael’s Mastermind Group Resources

Mike Fountain’s view of the Benefits of Belonging to a Mastermind Group

Cooking in Season: Preparing Food that Tastes Great and is Easy to Make

I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting experts in their fields – for this excerpt, it’s Lynne Viera, founder of how2heroes.

One of the easiest things you can do to make a good meal with as little effort as possible is to buy, cook and eat food that’s in season.  Because in-season produce is fresher, it is more flavorful without a slew of other ingredients or fancy preparation techniques. Not to mention, it is better it is for you and generally costs less, too.

‘Tis the season

Though a home-grown tomato in the middle of summer is my all-time favorite, there are a myriad of vegetables and fruit which grow well in the summer. Depending on your local climate, there will be variation in the quantity and assortment of what’s available. If you’re not sure if a vegetable is in-season or not, do a quick search online and you’ll quickly get a definitive answer.

Summer. Vegetables and fruit which are typically plentiful during the hot, summer months include:

• Vegetables
  • Peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, avocados
• Fruit
  • Blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, melon

Fall. In the late summer and fall, a number of items reach their peak. These are:

• Vegetables
  • Squash, pumpkin and greens (which also grow well in the spring, and include spinach, arugula and lettuce)
• Fruit
  • Apples

Lynne has wonderful suggestions for using pumpkins beyond carving them for Halloween. “You can stuff pumpkins then roast the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are super healthy and fun and easy to roast. Don’t waste those seeds!”

She adds: “Also, apples can be stored for quite a long time. There are so many varieties of apples and millions of things you can do with them, including making apple sauce and canning them to have all winter long.”

Winter. When winter rolls around, root vegetables are a great choice to accompany meals. Roasting them is simple and another great benefit, according to Lynne, is that root vegetables last a long time in a cool basement: “My father used to grow onions and squash and we would have them for months after the season had ended. Just keep them in a cool, dry place and you’ll be good to go. Apples also last quite a while, too.”

Vegetables and fruit that are tasty in the winter months include:

• Vegetables
  • Carrots, beets, onions, turnips, spinach, lettuce, broccoli
• Fruit
  • Cranberries, clementines, bananas, apples

Extending the Seasons

Lynne highly recommends canning, pickling and freezing fruits and veggies when they are in season so you can enjoy them in the off-season. “If you do can, freeze, and pickle produce yourself, you know what goes into it.  Rather than being processed in a huge factory, they are instead prepared by your gentle, caring hands.”

For example, blueberries are great to freeze. “Buy them when they are plentiful (and inexpensive) in the summer, wash and freeze them on a cookie sheet so they’re not stacked up. Then when they’re frozen, package them up in zip-top bags. Pull them out and have blueberry pancakes in the winter when the price of blueberries is through the roof. And they will taste better than ones shipped from Chile or somewhere else very far away.”

She continues: “In addition to apple sauce, pears are incredible canned. What a treat to have those in winter. Peaches!  Can those suckers, too. Or puree, freeze and break them out for Belini’s or other peach-based cocktails or mocktails.”

Follows are some wonderful videos from Lynne’s site to provide step-by-step instructions for pickling and canning:

Pickling

Quick Pickling:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/quick-easy/quick-pickling

Dill Pickles:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/quick-easy/dill-pickles

Japanese Style Pickles:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/quick-easy/japanese-style-pickles

Dilly Beans:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/sides/danis-dilly-beans-carrots

Canning

Tomatoes:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/techniques/canning-tomatoes

Jam Making Basics:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/techniques/jam-making-basics

Strawberry jam:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/techniques/strawberry-jam

Freezing

Blueberries:  http://how2heroes.com/videos/techniques/freezing-blueberries

Keeping it Simple

If you are tempted to make a summer dish in the middle of winter, such as the chicken parmesan dish that’s one of our family fallbacks, don’t do it. Those January hot house tomatoes cost a fortune and don’t taste good, either. And though I focused today on produce, seafood is seasonal as well. But I’ll save that topic for next week!

If you use vegetables, fruits and seafood when they are at their peak in flavor, you have do very little to make them taste great. Like giving a child a plethora of fancy, intricate and expensive toys when he’s just has happy playing with a corrugated box, keep it simple!

The results will impress.

P.S. Check back for more of Lynne’s seasonal recipes!

About Lynne

Lynne Viera is the Founder of how2heroes, the premiere how-to video cooking website. Lynne combined her expertise in creating websites for major brands like Safeway and National Geographic Channel (as the Founder/CEO of Rival Marketing) and her passion for food to create this world-class website destination for people who really want to learn how to cook. Every video is original and carefully shot so viewers can easily replicate the recipes and techniques being demonstrated in the videos. The site features a combination of master chefs like Ming Tsai, Angelo Sosa (Top Chef) and Jason Santos (Hell’s Kitchen) as well as home cooks, farmers, fishmongers – anyone who has creative cooking ideas to share.

Why Buyers Should Beware of Food Marketing Claims

If you are watching your weight, which cereal do you think best help you achieve your goal?

Kellogg’s Special K

Or

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes

This question came up recently when my mom was in town visiting. She is on a weight loss diet and said, “I eat Corn Flakes for breakfast but I try to eat Special K whenever I can.”

And my response was: “Why? One is not different than the other.”

And even my husband piped in to say, “Of course there is a difference. Special K is better,” a comment to which my Mom wholeheartedly agreed.

So if I asked you the same question, what would your answer be?

If you have seen the myriad of Special K TV commercials, you would assume this cereal has some magic weight loss formula. In fact, this commercial challenges you to drop jean size in two weeks:

Now that’s a marketing claim if I ever heard one!

But buyers beware. Marketing can be louder than pounds at times.

So back to the original question:

Special K has 120 calories in one cup of cereal. The same amount of Corn Flakes, on the other hand, has 100 calories. Both have less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, so there’s little chance you’ll poop your way to weight loss (sorry, but we use that word a lot in our household).

Special K does have more added nutrients, though.  Check out the nutrition labels below:

So which is “better?” Guess that depends on how you define better. I don’t really think one will help you lose more weight than the other, especially since breakfast is only one meal during a person’s day. But buyers should beware that  marketing claims are subject to interpretation.

Here are some marketing slogans/claims from top selling cereals:

Cheerios is a superfood for your heart (by helping remove some bad cholesterol from your body).

Frosted Mini Wheats have 8 layers of whole grain fiber to keep kids full and focused.

Life Cereal promotes healthy hearts and is an excellent source of B-vitamins to convert food into energy.

Kashi GOLEAN – A bowl has as much protein as an egg.

Moral to the story: Read nutrition labels and ingredients’ lists. What you see on TV may not always be as promising as it sounds. And don’t forget that a healthy diet – rich with nutrients and heart healthy – requires more than just a bowl of cereal.