Brown Sugar Teriyaki Steelhead Trout with Toasted Pecans

Yeah for the first day of summer!  Warm days, vacation plans and the inevitable need to get into a bathing suit again.  (deep sigh!)  Time to head back to the gym.

Naturally, I am trying to work out more this time of year. I won’t lie...it is so hard to make time most days.   My best opportunity is to use my lunch hour to pop over to the gym for a quick workout, but even that is a challenge to accomplish.  

I am trying to sneak in a little extra work out time in other places too - like Logan’s bath time.  While he plays with his bath toys I grab my arm weights (which I keep under the sink) and sneak in a few reps.  Logan helps me count.  Of course being barely 2 years-old his numbers tend to come out in random order.   I have no idea how many reps I am actually getting in, but I figure any number is 100 times more than what I was doing before , so it is all good.

In keeping with my new found quest to become bathing suit ready, I am trying to keep it lean and healthy at dinner time.  I am also trying to eat more seafood.  Tonight my healthy choice was steelhead trout baked in a super simple teriyaki and brown sugar glaze then finished with a few toasted pecans.  It was totally delish!

If you have never tried steelhead trout, it is a meaty fish that looks a lot salmon.  However the flavor of steelhead trout is milder than salmon.  It is also less oily and therefore has less omega 3 fatty-acids than salmon as well.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Brown Sugar Teriyaki Steelhead Trout with Toast Pecans

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Makes: 4 entrees

• 4 steelhead trout fillets (skin off)
• 3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• tin foil

Preheat oven to 350º.

Tear off 4 sheets of tin foil, each approximately 12 inches long.  

Place 1 fillet on each piece of tin foil.  Top with each fillet with 3 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.  Pull two sides up of the tin foil together and roll closed.  Pull the other two sides up and roll closed to form a sealed packet.

Place the 4 sealed packets of fish on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until fish is fully cooked.

While fish is cooking, place pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the color deepens and the nuts become fragrant. 

When fish are fully cooked remove from the foil packs and place on serving dishes.  Top with brown sugar teriyaki sauce to taste (from the foil packets) and toasted pecans.

A Wish for a New Tasty Fish Dish!

You may have heard that earlier this year the USDA released the new updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans.   It is full of do’s and don’t’s for improving your diet and includes some interesting analysis on the changes in our overall eating habits and obesity rates over the past 40 years.   

One of the sections I found particularly interesting was Chapter 4 - Food and Nutrients to Increase. (It is just always more fun to focus on what you should be adding instead of what you need to be deleting!) This section included one of my favorite food groups - seafood!

The USDA is recommending that 8 oz or more or roughly 20% of our protein should come from seafood.  It also recommends that we consume “a variety of seafood, as opposed to a just a few choices”.  This got me thinking about the variety of seafood that I eat.  

When I am out at restaurants I absolutely eat lots of different varieties of seafood but when I am home I tend to prepare three varieties the most often - salmon, shrimp and crab.  Clearly I am in a cooking rut.  Time to break out and start cooking more seafood varieties at home!  So every month I am going to pick a different seafood to prepare.   

This month I started with barramundi, a mild, slightly sweet, flaky white fish.  I have enjoyed this fish while dining out several times and was delighted to find a bag of plain frozen filets in the freezer on my last Costco run so I could try cooking it for myself. 

The firm texture and mild flavor make barramundi a very versatile fish.  You can put all kinds of different sauces and spices on it.  I decided to go Greek with mine.  

I lightly sprinkled it the fillets with olive oil, salt and pepper and baked them on a broiler pan.  While those were cooking, I made a simple topping with a little more olive oil, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, capers and feta. I choose to serve the fillets over a bed of couscous and peas, but you could add any sides you like.  The dish was TASTY!  And so simple and quick.  The whole meal was ready in under 20 minutes!  Just hoping that my next seafood variety attempt turns out as well.

Barramundi with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Capers & Feta

2 barramundi fillets with skin on, thawed

olive oil 

salt and pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove minced garlic (approx. 1 teaspoon)

1 tablespoon capers

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, chopped

1/3 cup of feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400.

Sprinkle fillets with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place skin side up on a broiler pan.  Bake for 14 minutes or until fully cooked.

Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil and garlic in a pan and turn heat to med high. Watch closely and stir occasionally until garlic starts to sizzle.  Add capers and sun-dried tomatoes to olive oil and garlic.  Stir to incorporate.   Cook for 1-2 minutes until thoroughly heated and set aside until ready to serve.

When fish is fully cooked (it should be opaque white and flaky throughout) remove from oven.  Peel the skin off and discard.  If the fish is fully cooked the skin will peel off very easily.  If the skin does not peel off easily cook the fillets a little longer.

Place fillets on serving dishes.  Spoon sun-dried tomato mixture over fillets.  Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese over top and serve.