Read The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth Online
Authors: Jonny Bowden
The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth (20 page)
Rice Threads
From Dr. Jonny
: In the late ’80s, when I was a traveling musician, I conducted a production of
Blues in the Night
in Japan, and not surprisingly, I spent an awful lot of time in Japanese restaurants. I learned that sushi making is such a respected art that chefs apprentice for two years just learning how to make the little plastic models of the sushi that are on display in every restaurant window. Picking out the right cuts of fish takes an even longer internship. Fortunately, better fish markets can do the work for you by choosing cuts of tuna that are suitable for eating raw, a practice that is perfectly healthy when the fish is properly chosen and prepared. This tuna sashimi dish uses the finest-quality raw tuna, loaded with protein and omega-3 fatty acids, plus edamame and daikon radish. It’s a true power meal that’s elegant, incredibly light, and low calorie!
Edamame Daikon Rice Threads
2 cups (236 g) frozen shelled edamame, unsalted
8 ounces (225 g) stir-fry rice noodles (vermicelli style; we like Thai House)
1/2 cup (58 g) grated, peeled daikon radish, optional
1/3 cup (5 g) chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup (120 g) pickled ginger
*
2 cups (110 g) curly endive lettuce, stemmed and pulled apart
1 tablespoon (8 g) gomasio
**
(or black sesame seeds or toasted regular sesame seeds), optional
Dressing
2 tablespoons (28 ml) low-sodium tamari
2 tablespoons (28 ml) sake (or rice wine or mirin)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Sashimi and Condiments
1 pound (455 g) sushi-grade tuna (e.g., Vital Choice Tataki or albacore medallions), thinly sliced
***
4 teaspoons wasabi paste, or to taste
1/4 cup (60 ml) low-sodium tamari, or to taste
Bring a large pot half filled with lightly salted water to a boil. Add the edamame beans and boil for 5 minutes or until tender (or according to package directions).
Pour the boiling water through a fine-mesh sieve or colander (to catch and drain the beans) and into a large bowl. Add the rice threads to the bowl and soak to al dente in the boiled water according to the package directions (usually 5 to 7 minutes).
While the threads are soaking, whisk together the tamari, sake, and toasted sesame oil.
In a large bowl, toss together the edamame, rice threads, daikon, cilantro, and ginger. Dress to taste and divide among four plates. Top with equal portions of curly lettuce and garnish with the gomasio. Serve the sashimi on the side with the wasabi and tamari.
Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 574 Calories; 11g Fat (16.3% calories from fat); 50g Protein; 78g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 43mg Cholesterol; 1105mg Sodium
*
Prepared pickled ginger is a popular sushi condiment. You can find the conventional version in jars in large grocery stores. You can also find an unsweetened version (usually in bags) in the macrobiotics section of most natural food stores.
**
Gomasio is a Japanese condiment made from sesame seeds and salt. Find it in the macrobiotics section of natural food stores. It’s useful if you are cutting your salt consumption, as the nutty flavor of the sesame makes the small amount of salt strong enough to pop the flavors of vegetables, soups, and salads.
***
To slice the tuna yourself, use a very sharp knife and, in one fluid motion, slice each piece very thinly (1/4 inch or 0.5 cm) against the grain of the tuna.
From Chef Jeannette
To Complete the Meal
: Serve with small glasses of warmed sake.
From Dr. Jonny
: A little bluefish trivia, if you ever find yourself on
Jeopardy
!: This aggressive little fish clicks its teeth as it attacks other fish, so the small ones are called “snappers” and the adults are called “choppers.” Regardless, they taste delicious, are plentiful along the Atlantic coast, and probably kept a lot of hungry Americans alive during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when they were a dietary staple. These fish are really good for you, too. One 4-ounce (115 g) fillet has a whopping 30 grams of high-quality protein, much more potassium than a banana, and is an excellent source of selenium, niacin, and vitamin B
12
. The distinctive taste of the blue in this recipe is offset by the sweetness of the syrup and the kick of the peppers. My recommendation: Use 100 percent pure grade B maple syrup (not grade A)—it has more minerals!
4 bluefish fillets (6 ounces or 170 g each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper (or cayenne), or to taste
1/4 cup (85 g) maple syrup
Preheat the grill to medium heat (or heat a broiler).
Rinse the fillets well and pat very dry. In a cup, mix together the salt and peppers. Add the syrup to a pie plate and run the fillets through it, flipping and/or brushing them with the syrup to coat well. Spray the grill lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle the salt and pepper mix evenly over the fillets and grill (or broil) for 2 to 4 minutes per side, basting with the syrup at least once, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 267 Calories; 7g Fat (25.2% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 100mg Cholesterol; 371mg Sodium
From Chef Jeannette
To Complete the Meal
: Serve with quick-cooking grits and tomatoes. Follow the directions on the package to make 2 cups grits, then stir in 1 cup (180 g) of chopped fresh tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and fresh ground pepper to taste.
If You Have an Extra Hour
: Brine the fillets to remove some of the intense fishy flavor of bluefish. I live in Newport, Rhode Island, and it’s common for a friend or neighbor to bring over a bluefish from time to time when the fishing is good. Blue is a rich, oily fish, and even when it’s superfresh, the flavor is strong and distinctive. To mellow that somewhat (and tenderize the flesh), stir 2/3 cup (200 g) of kosher salt into 1 quart (946 ml) of cold water. Place the fillets in the water and store in glass in the fridge for an hour. Rinse well and pat dry before grilling.
Flounder
From Dr. Jonny
: Flounder without butter is like a day without sunshine. Okay, maybe I exaggerate. But I’m kind of sick of hearing butter trashed as a “cooking oil.” It’s a perfectly good food, especially when it comes from grass-fed cows and is organic. It’s also a perfectly healthy fat, and cooking with it may even have some advantages over vegetable oil. (I say “may” because I’m being polite and cautious; in my opinion, it has a
ton
of advantages over vegetable oil, but explaining why would take more pages than you’re likely to want to read in a recipe introduction!) Anyway. Add the rich taste of butter to the light, incredibly low-calorie white fish, season with almonds and lemon, and you’ve got the core of a perfect light, high-protein meal that works in any season. Tip from Jonny: Chef Jeannette takes no responsibility for the cooking opinions expressed by the resident nutritionist in this duo (me) but for what it’s worth, I think this dish works equally well when cooked in high-quality organic coconut oil (such as Barlean’s brand), or even with a mix of half butter, half coconut oil. And as long as I’m putting my two cents in, why not try sprinkling a few coconut flakes on top of it as well? I’m just saying.
1/4 cup (10 g) fresh basil leaves
4 fresh flounder fillets (4 to 6 ounces [115 to 170 g] each)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
2 tablespoons (28 ml) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup (28 g) slivered almonds
Stack the basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up together like a cigar. Slice or snip widthwise into thin strips. Set aside.
Lightly season the fillets all over with salt and pepper, to taste. Heat the butter in a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the lemon juice and add the fish and almonds. Cook the fish for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until just cooked through (flakes with a fork). Sprinkle the basil over all to serve.
Yield
: 4 servings
Per Serving
: 248 Calories; 11g Fat (41.8% calories from fat); 34g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 97mg Cholesterol; 196mg Sodium
From Chef Jeannette
To Complete the Meal
: Serve with chopped Swiss chard and yellow onion with a teaspoon of lemon zest and a few pinches of salt, steam-sautéed until tender in olive oil.
Variation Tip
: For an unusual, folate-rich option, try substituting 3 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed orange juice (45 ml) for the lemon.
NUTRITIONAL NOTE
I have some bad news: There’s a world of difference between farmed and wild salmon.
Now before I tell you why, let me give you a spoiler alert: If you can’t get wild salmon, you should probably still eat the farmed kind, because some salmon is better than none. But if you have a choice, and most people do, choose and insist on wild salmon. Is it more expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? You be the judge.
At salmon farms, thousands of fish are crowded into small, roped-off areas known as “net pens,” the fish equivalent of factory farms for cows. They’re packed tightly and disease spreads rapidly (much like on farms), so antibiotics are the order of the day, both in feed and through injections. That’s just for starters.
Salmon are natural carnivores and prefer to dine on mackerel, sardines, krill, and other crustaceans. In fact, the natural, bright red-pink color they have comes from a powerful (and red-colored) antioxidant known as astaxanthin, which is found in krill, a main staple of the salmon diet. But salmon raised in pens don’t swim around hunting for krill. Instead, they exist on grain, a food that is completely unnatural for them, which results in their fat being much higher in inflammatory omega-6 fats than the fat of their wild brethren.
But wait, there’s more. (Sorry, I warned you.)
Seven of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores were contaminated with PCBs, according to independent laboratory tests by the wonderful consumer advocate agency Environmental Working Group. On average, farmed salmon have a whopping 16 times (that’s 1,600 percent) higher content of PCBs than that found in wild salmon, and about 3 1/2 times the amount found in other seafood.
That said, if you can’t get any other kind of salmon, it’s still worth it to eat this fish, but farmed is the poor cousin of the real deal, which is wild salmon.
And may I put in a plug for my friends at Vital Choice, a company in which I have absolutely no financial interest, but believe to be one of the most responsible and environmentally conscious food companies in America. This company, headed by third-generation Alaskan fishermen, strives to provide fish that have been caught by line, from pristine waters, are tested every which way and back for toxic metals, and are environmentally sustainable. I get all my fish sent to me from them, and once you’ve tasted it, you’ll never go back to supermarket fish. You can find a link to Vital Choice directly on my website, www.jonnybowden.com, under Online Store/Healthy Foods.
From Dr. Jonny
: Trout, found in rushing streams of cold clear water, are probably one of the most sought-after sport fish. If you’re lucky enough to eat one of these guys fresh from the stream, you’ll understand why fishermen stand for hours in the water wearing big, high, uncomfortable rubber boots trying to outsmart them. They’re simply delicious. (The fish, not the boots!) They’re interesting, too; some species actually spend part of their lives in fresh water and part in salt-water. (Unfortunately, most of the trout in the United States is farm raised, and the taste varies considerably depending on the food that it’s fed and the conditions under which it’s raised.) But enough trout trivia. Trout is a protein powerhouse (about 20 grams in a mere 3 ounces [85 g]), low in calories (144 calories for 3 ounces [85 g] cooked fish), and an excellent source of both niacin and vitamin B
12
. I’m particularly fond of the yogurt-based sauce in this recipe. The snap of the horseradish and the tang of the lemon nicely mellow the salty smokiness of the trout in this elegant and delicious wrap. Enjoy!
