I decided to make this recipe after seeing it on the morning news. The recipe comes courtesy of Laura Calder, one of my favourite Food Network Canada hosts. I love the soft, roasted peppers in this recipe, the healthy olive oil and tangy citrus flavour. Make sure you use a good baguette for this…I don’t eat bread often, so the crusty, toasted outside and soft inside of the rustic French baguette we bought was quite a treat. I was quite surprised that there was no cheese in this recipe, and I thought about adding some but after biting into the sandwich, I realized it doesn’t need anything else. This ain’t your mama’s brown bag tuna sandwich!

TUNA AND WHITE BEAN SALAD ON TOASTED BAGUETTE

Recipe Courtesy of Laura Calder – French Cooking at Home

• 2 red peppers
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• About 1/2 cup olive oil, more for the baguette
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 celery ribs, sliced
• A scant cup (100 g) pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• A few handfuls of fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans (use white kidney if you can’t find cannellini)
• Salt and pepper
• Zest and juice of 2 lemons, more to taste
• 14 ounces (390 g) high-quality tuna chunks packed in olive oil, drained (about 3 cans)
• 1 to 1 1/2 baguettes

Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Seed and julienne the peppers, toss on a baking sheet with a few tablespoons of olive oil, spread into a single layer, and bake until soft, about half an hour. Remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 400°F (200°C).

Tip the peppers into a large bowl. Add the garlic, celery, olives, parsley, and beans. Season with salt and pepper, and toss with the lemon zest and juice and the remaining olive oil. Add the tuna last and carefully mix it in with your hands so the chunks don’t break up too much. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Slice the baguette(s) in half lengthwise and then into pieces the length of the palm of your hand. Arrange on the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toast until golden and crisp on top but still squishy within, about 5 minutes.

Put a piece of toast on each plate and top with a generous heap of the salad, including the juices.

I always keep fish in the freezer, so I can thaw it and make a nice healthy meal in not too much time. I like all white fish, and in this dish I used red snapper. I’m not going to post any amounts because you will just use the amount of vegetables that will fill your baking dish, and however many filets you want.

• kalamata olives, sliced
• cherry tomatoes, slice in half
• red bell pepper, sliced
• broccoli florets, sliced
• fresh thyme
• fresh rosemary, chopped
• fresh basil, chopped
• lemon zest
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper
• red snapper filets

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare the vegetables and herbs, and combine in a baking dish suited to the amount of ingredients you are using. Toss in olive oil and spread evenly into baking dish.

Roast for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are nearly done– about ten minutes away from carmelisation.

Drizzle each side of filets with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Remove vegetables from the oven and add the fish to the mix.

Bake for another 10-12 minutes, until fish is opaque and flaky, and vegetables are tender. Enjoy!

Corny post title…..but the drummer in my favourite band ever (Travis Barker of Blink-182) owns a taco place called Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. One day I will eat a fish taco at one of the 50+ locations they have throughout the states….but in the mean time I will make them at home. This was my first time making a fish taco and it was fun, and taaaaasty! In the meantime I will also stare longingly at this picture and reminisce of the day I actually got to meet him many years ago…

I look different and weird in this pic….moving on!

Back to the tacos! I used halibut but I’m sure any white fish would do, and I really don’t have exact measurements for this recipe, as I was just making one taco, but I trust with a little ingredient guidance you can all get this right! I also used a wrap because I didn’t have any soft flour tortillas (story of my life- I use wraps for everything!).

Koko’s Fish Tacos

• white fish fillet, such as halibut
• lettuce
• cilantro
• avocado
• lime juice
• salsa
• cheese, I used regular cheddar but I think a nice white cheddar would be better. If vegan, just skip it!
• caramelized onions (don’t worry I’ll tell ya how to make them!)
• wrap, or soft flour tortillas
• cumin
• coriander
• chili powder
• chipotle powder
• garlic salt
• salt

To caramelize onions:

Drizzle a pan with olive oil and heat on medium high. Slice up an onion and add to the hot pan. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir, to coat the onions. Turn the heat to low and keep stirring, as the onions slowly begin to caramelize. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn! When they are brown, and soft, and smell delicious, they are done!

For the ‘guacamole’:

Mash up an avocado and add some lime juice and a pinch of salt. Stir in a scoop of salsa.

For the fish:

Pat the fish fillet dry, and slice into small pieces- about an inch wide and as long as the fillet is. Sprinkle evenly with cumin, coriander, chili powder, chipotle powder, and garlic salt. Turn pieces over and do the same to the other side. Drizzle a pan with olive oil and heat to medium-high. Add the fish and cook until done on each side (it took about a minute on each side for me, but it depends on the thickness of the fish).

Constructing the taco:

Spread the bottom of your wrap/tortilla with our lovely avocado/salsa mixture. Add a layer of cheese, add the lettuc, cilantro, caramelized onions, and finally the fish. Drizzle everything with lots of lime juice! Fold up like a wrap, and enjoy! Please yell wahoo! as you eat it.

Click here for a special guest post with a bit of info on fish-eating vegetarians vs. non-fish-eating vegetarians.

Another seafood post, but it’s a huge part of my diet- I love seafood. I first made this recipe in cooking class, and even all the people who had been saying “ew, I hate fish” were eating this! So I hope that you will try it and like it, too! Worcestershire sauce is essentially a sauce made from the extracts of tamarind seeds. It also contains anchovies, garlic, onions, soy sauce, and molasses, although it is available in a vegetarian version (that omits the anochovies), and you can also find some gluten-free versions.

Sole is a very nice and light fish and it goes well with this recipe. It also contains less mercury than many other fish. I actually remove the heavy metals and mercury from my body with a twice weekly dosage of pills from my naturopath!

Worcestershire Sole

• several fillets of sole
• worcestershire sauce
• fresh lemon juice
• lemon zest
• salt and pepper
• butter
• olive oil

Take a bowl large enough to fit all of your sole fillets, and fill it with a mixture of worcestershire sauce and lemon juice, to taste. Season your sole with salt and pepper on either side. Let them marinade in the worcestershire mixture in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. Heat a large saute pan and coat the bottom with a mixture of olive oil and butter. Remove the sole from the marinade, but reserve it. Dredge the sole in flour and pan-fry the sole on either side. They can be cooked very quickly, depending on the thickness of your fillets- mine were done with less than a minute on each side. Remove the fish to a plate and add about 2 oz of butter to your hot pan, add the reserved marinade and let it reduce and thicken slightly. Pour over your sole. Add plenty of lemon zest, and enjoy!

I love Japanese food and I go out for Japanese food almost weekly. There are some great local sushi places that are super cheap and produce great food- I’m addicted. Some of my favourites are the crab miso soup, gomae (spinach in a peanut dressing), sunomono salad, california rolls, spider rolls (sushi with deep fried soft shell crab in it) and sesame broccoli salad. Instead of going out tonight (the Canucks are playing, I can’t miss that!) I decided to stay in and create a Japanese inspired meal of my own. I started with a Sunomono Salad straight out of the Cookbook of the Month, “Rebar”. It did not dissapoint! Though a different style than the ones I usually have, it was fantastic. I got to dust off the ol’ bottle of sake and use some ingredients I don’t use often. I realize that I love making Japanese food because the aesthetics of it are so key. It’s so much fun to make food and work extra hard to make it look beautiful.

Sunomono Salad (Adapted from Rebar Cookbook) Serves 2

• 1/4 cup sake
• 2 tbsp honey (or use mirin if you want it completely vegan)
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• fresh lemon juice to taste
• 100 g rice vermicelli (the really skinny ones)

Bring the sake to a boil in a small pot. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the honey. Allow to cool a bit, and then add the rest of the liquid ingredients. Chill. When ready to use, add lemon juice to taste.

Cook the rice noodles according to the package. Drain and rinse very well under cold water. Split between two serving bowls.

Add the liquid until the noodles are almost submerged. Garnish the dish with avocados, thinly sliced lemon, cucumber, julienne carrots and white sesame seeds.

A few days ago my mom bought me a lovely piece of tuna and I was eager to use it. I did a bit of searching to find something fun that would go with my sunomono salad, and I decided on a dish from….”Dish”. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with the show Dish on the food network, hosted by Trish Magwood, but she makes really simple and fun foods for various events for her clients. The tuna was originally supposed to be raw, but I thought a quick sear would make it better, as my tuna had spent some time in the freezer and I wanted to perk it up. I also used Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise, because frankly, I prefer the flavour and the fact there are no egg yolks in it.

Cucumber Tuna Rolls (Adapted from Dish)

• 1 English cucumber
• Enough tuna for how many rolls you need (about 1 lb  should do)
• 2 Tbsp black sesame seeds
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Wasabi
• 1/4 cup Vegenaise (or mayonnaise)
• 1/4 tsp Sambal Oelek (or hot chili paste)

Mix together the black sesame seeds, sesame oil, and freshly cracked pepper in a bowl.

Lightly oil a saute pan and heat to medium high heat. Season your tuna with salt and pepper, and place into pan. Sear for about 30 seconds one side and remove.

Dice tuna into a 1-inch dice and toss into sesame oil mixture. Reserve.

Use a mandolin or vegetable peeler to cut long strips from the cucumber.

Take a strip of cucumber, add a couple of pieces of diced tuna at one end, and a small dot of wasabi at the other end. Roll up the roll like sushi, and use the wasabi to secure the end. Repeat with the rest of tuna and cucumber.

Mix the Vegenaise and Sambal Oelek together and place a small dollop on top of each roll. Add black sesame seeds to garnish. Serve and enjoy!

All in all, this meal was a total winner, and I would love to recreate it sometime for friends. Try it yourself!

Combine all ingredients together except for halibut. Mix well so the miso paste is incorporated- not clumpy. Pour mixture over the halibut and let it marinade for at least 10 minutes.  Put the halibut and any extra sauce onto a aluminum foil lined try. Broil  for 5 minutes and then cover with aluminum foil and broil for 4 more minutes (depending on the size of your fillet).