The Deer One

Yesterday I promised to share the rest of the ideas for a menu to start a bit of healthier eating. By now we all know that almost any kind of seafood is good for you, but the idea of actually eating any variety is not shared by my family. It took me a while, but I’ve finally got a technique down that allows me to cook the fish of choice for everyone without too much work. Hopefully you don’t face this dilemma, but if you do here’s the secret. I have several small skillets making it easy to lightly pan sear a couple of different fish and quickly tuck them into a hot oven to finish. I’m eating more salmon, which is even tastier after marinating and hour or so in a simple marinade (recipe). My guys like milder fish like tilapia and orange roughy which I also enjoy, but not for every seafood dinner. Those fish are better without too much early attention; just a squeeze of lemon and a touch of melted butter are the perfect finishing compliment.

The salad that brings this together so beautifully is chock full of one of the best foods in the world – avocado. I’m old enough to remember when avocados were first a health food and you could get an avocado and sprout sandwich on whole wheat bread in almost any health food shop. Then, in the fat fearing decade of the 90’s they became the worst sin of all. Once I took a turkey an avocado sandwich to work and was berated in the teacher’s lounge for eating such a decadent food. I defiantly finished it anyway, but felt like everyone was looking at my hips the next day to see if I’d gotten fatter. I was forced to enjoy avocados on the sly for years. Now they are all the rage again, good fat, good for your tummy and all that. So excellent work avocados! Try to stay in vogue for a while. Here are the recipes. We loved this dinner and hope you do too.

 Salmon in A Simple Marinade

 Ingredients to marinate up to1 lb salmon cut into individual serving pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup white wine (sometimes I swap it up with an equal amount of Jack Daniels when we are grilling fish)

optional: 1 Tbsp Asian chili sauce, or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

 Directions

Put marinade ingredients in a ziplock baggie large enough to hold your fish.

Shake it up and add salmon. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 6.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat an ovenproof skillet large enough to hold the salmon over high heat and add one Tbsp canola or olive oil.

Pat salmon dry, add to skillet skin side down and cook for one minute.

Turn and cook for a minute on the other side. This is your chance to easily peel off the skin.

Flip fish back over and put the skillet in the oven for about 8 or up to 10 minutes depending on the size of the fish and your degree of doneness.

Serve immediately.

Avocado and Orange Salad

serves 2

 Ingredients

1 avocado, peeled and thinly sliced

1 orange, peeled and thinly sliced (slice off peel with a knife, it’s easier)

2 thin slices of red onion

1 Tbsp capers

any herbs of choice – tarragon, basil, thyme, oregano, dill, etc (what you have available)

Dressing

2 Tbsp olive oil

juice of 1 lemon, plus any orange juice accumulated from slicing orange

pinch of salt and pepper

 Directions

Arrange slices of avocado and orange on individual plates.

Top with red onion, capers and herbs.

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over salad.