I am not so great at meal planning and prepping. It rarely happens. But this past week, I was a cooking machine! I got inspired by some fish recipes in Real Simple this month. I don’t cook fish a lot, but if I do, I always bake it in foil or paper. So, when I saw six ways to cook fish packets, I was IN! Also, I’m trying to eat a little more fish since I’m pregnant and that DHA isn’t going to materialize in my body by itself.
I tried two of the recipes: The Tomato, Onion, Black Olive & Feta packet, and the Kale, Lemon, Artichoke & Caper packet. (I can’t find the actual article online, but here are the search results on their website that have all six recipes listed.)
As you may know, I am definitely the kind of cook who likes to throw together what I have and experiment a little, so it’s rare for me to actually try out specific recipes. What drew me to these was that it was essentially the same recipe, just with different toppings, so it felt less recipe-like, AND you could make it with cod, salmon or bass.
I made the Tomato, Onion, Black Olive & Feta packets with cod and it was SO good:
I’ve actually cooked cod packets with feta and olives before, but adding the onion and tomatoes made a huge difference. I served it on a mix of brown rice, barley and farro. Side note – I included the ‘theirs’ and ‘mine’ photos of the fish recipes just to really illustrate why I could never be a food photographer. My photos are horrible, but the fish was delicious. 😉
Then I tried something totally new and used salmon for the Kale, Lemon, Artichoke & Caper packets:
I like all of these ingredients, but I don’t think I’ve ever cooked with artichokes before. The recipe just called for halved artichoke hearts and I didn’t feel like cooking from scratch, so I bought frozen artichoke hearts. They turned out perfectly, but I’m sure if you went super fresh it would be even better.
I figured the salmon, being a stronger flavored fish, would stand up more to the lemon and capers and it tasted great.
Since I had a lot of kale left over, I also experimented with kale chips:
Holy easy peasy. All I did was wash the kale, tear it up, drizzle it with olive oil, salt & peppered it, then baked it at 425 for 10 minutes. Yum. I mentioned I’d tried them and was looking for new seasoning ideas last weekend and I had a bunch of suggestions, so thank you! Also, Tina Muir said the best way to prepare them is to massage the oil into the kale first, which I’m definitely going to try – since I drizzled it haphazardly, there were definitely some extremely oily bites throughout. Pre-oiling would make a difference, I’m sure.
Moral of the post? If I can get my act together and actually plan and cook some meals throughout the week, there’s hope for every last-minute dinner decider out there! Also, these will definitely become go-to dinners for me and I’m looking forward to trying the other variations of the recipe.
Do you cook fish often?
Do you meal plan and prep?
What’s your favorite go-to easy recipe (please feel free to leave a link in your comment! I need more inspiration)
I think your pictures looks awesome – such vibrant colors!! The packet with the feta sounds really good!!! I love fish but prefer to have it grilled so it doesn’t make the house smell.
Kim recently posted…Catching Up (9/28 – 10/11)
Baking it doesn’t seem to be so bad, smell-wise. I totally gave up on cooking fish stove-top – in an apt our size, it’s awful!!
I hate that DHA doesn’t just materialize by itself! I keep hoping.
I love that you’re eating so great and feeling up to it. Kale for some reason was public enemy #1 when I was pregnant with Scarlet, which was funny because I had never really heard of it until I was pregnant. Western MA is full of kale lovers.
I’m happy to say that I’ve made a full recovery and I can totally eat it these days.
Tamara recently posted…Are You With Me, Doctor Who?
I love that you developed an aversion to something you’d just found out about! Nobody said pregnancy was rational! 😉
Our meal prep involves my sketching out a basic outline for the week x 2 (meat for the hub and daughter, veg for me). I run it by the hub, he sometimes offers a suggestion, and then I pull from the freezer.
About twice or three times a week, I make a meal en large quantity and freeze the rest. At this time, we have over 60 prepped meals in the freezer.
I pull 3-5, tell the hub, and he decides what when. Sometimes I decide, but it leaves us with much flexibility and the ability to listen to what we truly want.
That makes it so easy! I have a few things in the freezer ready to cook, but not enough space for 60! NYC space issues and all that! 😉
Wow! I’m so impressed that you are cooking fish! I was completely off seafood for months! I finally got the taste back this summer, which is great because I usually eat a lot of fish! Also, the packets look so fancy!
Britt@MyOwnBalance recently posted…A Classic New York Evening at Eleven Madison Park
The packets were so easy, Britt! I haven’t had too many aversions this pregnancy. With Roman I couldn’t stand mint, which made teeth brushing a special torture.
All of my cooking lately has been geared towards freezer meals in anticipation of the baby. Do you have a crockpot? I make bulk meals that take no time at all to prep. Salsa Chicken – put some chicken tenderloins in pot, cover with fresh salsa from a grocery deli, add a can of black or kidney beans, cook for 8+ hours. BBQ Pork – Saute onions and pork in pan, transfer to pot, dump on BBQ sauce, let cook. Vegetable soup – toss any and all veggies into pot, along with some broth, tomato sauce, and spices.
Jessica recently posted…Personal Vs. Confessional – Why You Need To Be Both Honest and Self-Censoring When Writing
I just broke out my crockpot again – an you’ve inspired me to make soup this week! So excited for you to meet your little one SOON!!!
Pingback: What Went On in February - Fine Fit Day