My new relationship with...FISH!

Life has been absolutely INSANE since September started! I introduced some new teaching material that has been a great learning experience for me but has kept me off of blogging among other things. This is a post I have been working on for a while that I finally had the chance to finish!

This is the latest chapter in my adventure into liking all food. I am on a journey to be a less picky eater and enjoy all food that is presented to me. I think that with some amazing recipes and the slow but consistent approach to eating something you dislike, you will start to actually enjoy those recipes and even want to eat those dreaded items.

Foods on my dislikes list include onions, mushrooms, fish, seafood and lamb. So far I have been incredibly successful with onions and mushrooms. Onions were fairly easy because I could tolerate them cooked but what really sold me on onions were the small grilled onions (cebollitas) in Mexico...oh so sweet and delicious in a taco!
Mushrooms took a little longer. It took a year of eating mushroom risotto with the mushroom chunks getting bigger with every time we made it to finally be ok with eating them in other dishes. I am now even eating them raw in spinach salad!!!!

Image from: manjamakan.tumblr.com

I have tried scallops...twice...once in 2008 (see the delicious Mexican recipe posted here) and again this past Spring when my parents visited for Easter. I guess I have been slacking on my slow and consistent method here...

In comes the fish. Fish has been on my I really DON'T like at all list for a long time...well except when beer battered, deep fried and covered in tartar sauce...but then is it still really fish at this point? Knowing this, imagine Diego's surprise when I came to him and suggested we buy a half share in the new Community Supported Fishery (CSF - for more info on it see EcoYogini's great post and interview here) called Off the Hook. The idea of paying in to the fishery at the start of the season to share in the bounty and in the hard times with the fisherman was very appealing. Not to mention getting to know the fisherman and supporting a sustainable hook and line fishery rather than the destructive dragging of the ocean floor. Bottom trawling, which is how bottom dwelling fish like haddock, cod, hake, etc. are caught and is THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE way to fish.

Image from: http://shrimpsuck.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
Image from: http://www.leicesterfoe.org.uk/marine.html

The giant net drags across the bottom catching everything in its path (including deep sea corals, sponges, crabs, and the list goes on) and wreaking havoc on the bottom. Destroying the habitat that these fisheries actually depend on (talk about shoot yourself in the foot)...

...and throwing away anything not in the quota. This deep sea coral grows in the dark cold waters of the Atlantic and took HUNDREDS of years to grow that size and it is just being tossed over the side of a deep sea dragger.

Image from:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/sci_nat_bottom_trawled0_bottom_cleared/html/5.stm

The critters below are also bycatch and are what most of the fish we are catching eat, so we are at the same time decimating the food source of any remaining fish...any wonder why our fisheries are collapsing...we are taking out too much, destroying their habitat and food supply with destructive fishing methods and near the coasts we are also assaulting their nurseries with our pollution and coastal development...

Image from: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/tags/bottom-trawling?page=1

Knowing all of this, I bit the bullet and decided that we would try one season and if I hated it...at least I gave it a fair go and helped the program get off the ground. We had 5.5 lbs of fresh whole but gutted fish almost every week for 18 weeks this Summer and Fall! This translates into fish for at least 3 meals a week!!

Haddock about to be filleted.

I got to fillet my first ever fish and did a decent job of it! Although this ended up being Diego's job most of the time.
We always cooked all of the fish right away since freezing them or leaving them whole for a couple of days added to the fishy flavour that I don't enjoy. The fish were always less than 15 hours out of the water before they hit our pan. The taste was amazing! No fishy flavour whatsoever and once cooked they kept their fresh taste for the three meals!
To ease me into eating fish we started with an old favorite....Fish Tacos! These are essentially battered and fried little pieces of fish that you can put into a fresh corn tortilla with some Mexican Tartar sauce and Guacamole. Delicious! We used a typical beer batter (with Corona of course) and the Mexican Tartar sauce is just mayo, pickles and grated carrots! I will post my AMAZING guacamole recipe soon. :) It is a party pleaser.
After a couple of weeks of fish tacos we ventured to try another Mexican Favorite that I and all of the guests we made it for enjoyed very much and it is very simple...however, I don't remember what it is called! It is fresh haddock fillets layered (in this order) with juliened onions, diced tomatoes, secret sauce (see below) and topped with some dabs of butter. You wrap this all up in a large amount of tin foil and bake it in the oven or BBQ. You want enough foil to be able to flip it often to cook evenly and not have any juices come out. We ate this several times because it is SO GOOD!

Secret Sauce:
75% mayo, 25% mustard

I would make enough to have 2-3 tablespoons of sauce per layer of fish.

Once it is cooked (this will depend on how much fish you have) just slice open the top of the foil layer stick some spoons in and place it in the middle of the table. Spoon contents into a corn (or flour) tortilla, add some guacamole and ENJOY!
Closer to the end, I started to feel a little more adventurous and we made an amazing baked lemon rosemary haddock with a dill cream sauce. I used fresh rosemary from my garden and dill from the farmer's market. I lay the fillets on a bed of lemons then topped them with a few lemons and sprigs of rosemary and baked them in the oven at 350F until the fish was cooked (30-40 mins). In the mean time I made a creamy dill sauce using this recipe. We ate it with a side of Greek style baked sweet and red potatoes with onions (essentially olive oil with a very small amount of dill, and salt and pepper to taste, baked in my cast iron dutch oven in the oven beside the fish). The combination was AMAZING! Neither the dill or the rosemary were too strong. They were subtle and the combination was perfect. I scarfed this plate down pretty fast!
One of the last recipes we tried was the Moist Baked Haddock recipe found here. I did substitute the Pepperidge farm stuffing with Italian style bread crumbs.
We did enjoy this recipe but we really liked the bread crumbs so we would often just bread and bake the fish (no mayo, etc) to eat in tacos (of course with some salsa or guacamole!) or just straight up with some veggies on the side.

We both loved joining the CSF and will join again in the Spring. It is an amazing opportunity to support a truly sustainable fishery and get all the benefits of eating fish while feeling good rather than guilty about it! We also, really got to know the organizers and the fisherman. We met their families and know our money is going to support them directly and not some faceless corporation. If you are in Halifax, the Valley or Digby and you eat fish, you should definitely check them out!

To learn more about fisheries you can watch the documentary The End of the Line or take a look at Seachoice.org.

Don't have a CSF near you...here are some things that you can do:

1. There are some fisheries that are being sustainably managed, buy these fish. To know which ones check out the Canadian Seafood Guide and the Canadian Sushi Guide at Seachoice.org.
2. When in a restaurant, ask questions about where the fish comes from and how it was caught! The restaurant owners will become more informed and buy what the customer wants but they won't know unless you ask!
3. Not all fisheries are equally destructive so you will need to arm yourself with information to be able to make the right choices and ask the right questions.
   

Happy Fishing!

My new Favorite Veggies!

I found this AMAZING simple recipe called Mediterranean vegetable tian from this book.
Ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 small eggplant, sliced
2 Italian tomatoes, halved (I used one medium sized tomato, sliced)
Olive oil

Place onions on the bottom of an au gratin dish. I don't have one of these so I used my clay cazuela from Mexico. I am pretty sure it would do fine in a dutch oven or other baking dish with a lid. Drizzle olive oil (~2.5 tbsp) over the onions and then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cover with a layer of zucchini, again drizzle olive oil (~2.5 tbsp) and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste (repeat for every layer). Layer the chopped basil, then the slices of eggplant and finally the tomatoes. Cover with the lid and bake in the oven at 135C (275F) for 2 hours.
Sadly my photo is blurry (looked fine on my little screen...) but you can see the beautiful layers of sheer deliciousness! I used some leftover tarragon from this great slow cooker chicken recipe instead of basil the other day... INCREDIBLE! I am thinking of trying this with dill tomorrow!

Happy May 2-4 long weekend! :)

Foods that Fight Cancer

This is my follow up to yesterday's introductory post about this book.
Here I will briefly summarize some of the more important information about benefits of the foods for preventing and fighting cancer :

1. Seaweeds have properties that cause cancer cells to self destruct! Eating dried (nori in sushi) or rehydrated seaweed (like in seaweed salad or miso soup) or using it as a base in soups and broths is a great way to take advantage of their benefits.Wild wakame (typical in miso soup and seaweed salad). Image from http://www.marlin.ac.uk/shore_thing/creature/August2008.html
2. Mushrooms are rich in anticancer molecules that slow tumor growth and the progress of cancer. Mushrooms of Asian origin (shiitake, enokitake and maitake) and oyter mushrooms have the most but even the white buttons have some! :) (I love them in mushroom risotto!)Cultivated enokitake mushrooms. Image from http://frutasfranciscosalado.com/?tag=enokitake
   
3. Flax seed contains Omega 3 fatty acids that we can convert into DHA and EPA forms. They also contain lignans, these are phytoestrogens that reduces the harmful effects of having high blood estrogen levels. To get all the benefits you must reduce your Omega 6 fatty acid intake (these come from grains) to achieve a balance of 1:1 of Omega 3:6. Also, you must grind the flax before consuming and only grind right before eating or else the Omega 3s will break down.Brown flax. Image from http://www.nutsonline.com/cookingbaking/seeds/flax/premium.html
   
4. Herbs and Spices. Eat lots of Turmeric, Ginger, Chili pepper, Black pepper, Cloves, Mint, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Oreagno, Parsley, Coriander (Cilantro), Fennel and Anise. Fry turmeric in olive oil for 1-2 minutes to increase its potency by 10 times!My basil (top) and spearmint plants that I planted today.
   
5. Always use olive or canola oil for cooking. Olive Oil image from http://blackstrands.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/danis-do-it-or-lose-it-list-natural-oils/
   
6. Probiotics (who knew they were actually good for you and not just marketting from the yogurt companies!). Probiotics are good bacteria that can actually pass through the very acid conditions of your stomach to colonize your colon. They help your immune system, prevent carcinogenic substances from being taken up, reduce the amount of harmful bacteria and reduce the risk of and are use to treat digestive tract cancers. Eat them every couple of days since they only stay with us a short time!!! Good and Bad bacteria in your intestine. Image from http://www.drnatura.com/flora_protect_jr.php
7. Eat Cruciferous veggies (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, etc.) 3 times per week! They are our front line defense against cancer! Kale Image from http://www.galensgarden.co.uk/vegetables/images/kale.jpg
   
8. Eat lots of soy! Isoflavones are found exclusively in soy and are great in preventing breast cancer. However, if you have a history of breast cancer, you should actually avoid soy. Soy nuts (a good snack that also lowers your blood pressure!) Image from http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com/2007/08/soy-nuts-lower-blood-pressure/
9. Tomatoes contain lycopene which interferes with prostate cancer! However, they need to be cooked and eaten with olive oil to get the full benefits! Image from http://thundafunda.com/how-to/how-to-grow-tomatoes-at-home.html
10. Berries! The active substances found in large amounts in strawberries, blueberries, raspberries interfere with the formation of new blood vessels to a tumor. Other antioxidants found in blueberries and cranberries interfere with tumor development! No sacrifice to eat lots of these in my opinion! :) Mixed berries image from http://www.wairere.co.nz/how-to.mvc
11. Citrus fruits contain limonene and studies have found that consumption of citrus reduces by half the chances of developing digestive tract cancers by interfering with cancer cell growth and reducing inflammation. Grapefruit image from http://www.earthsongcandles.com/Ionic_Aromatherapy_Salt_Cry.html
12. Drink 3 cups of Japanese Green Tea (from leaves not bags!) per day. It contains one of the highest concentrations of anticancer molecules of all the foods. Catechins target a large number of processes associated with the development of cancer cells and should be on the top of any cancer prevention and treatment list! Japanese green tea image from http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-414.html
    
13. Red Wine has high concentrations of resveratol (found int he skin of grapes) which is the only molecule of dietary origin that will act simultaneously on more than one crucial phase of tumor development!!! It also has cardiovascular benefits! However, consuming large amounts of alcohol will counteract any benefits. So keep it to one glass a day along with a healthy diet to get the maximum benefits!Glass of wine image from http://stanford.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/a-glass-of-red-wine-a-day-keeps-the-doctor-away/508379
14. Last but definitely not least... Dark Chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa) can significantly slow down the growth of some cancers induced by carcinogenic substances! However, since chocolate is calorie packed it should be eaten in moderation and never with milk! Milk will actually prevent the absorption of the beneficial compounds. Your recommended daily intake... 2 squares a day.Dark Chocolate image from http://www.definebody.com/nutrition/what-makes-dark-chocolate-healthy/

I would have to say, all of these recommendations make complete sense and all are pretty appetizing. For those of you who know me, know that it took me over a year of training to actually like mushrooms and that I am not a fan of food that comes from the sea (for more than just environmental reasons...it typically tastes bad!). But I am slowly learning to like them. It is all mind over taste buds and eventually, like mushrooms, I will actually begin to like them. While others, like chocolate and red wine I need to exert a lot of discipline to not exceed my daily dose! :)

Although this post has focused on cancer, these tips are really for healthy living in general. Combine these with some yoga and other physical activity and you are set in mind, body and soul!

Mother's Day...Sushi!

I am not a mother (yet...I need to finish my PhD first!) and my mother and grandmother live in Ontario. So I thought that the best way to celebrate Mother's Day this year would be to take care of myself. Something I know my mom would want me to do.
This book was recommended to me by a close friend who was diagnosed with cancer, was treated and so far the coast is clear. He was recommended this book from his friend with terminal cancer who was given 6 months to live 2 years ago. He continues to fight his battle in good health and spirits outside the hospital! Nothing short of a miracle! He owes it all to his radical change in diet and following much of the simple advice in the book. We have a lot of cancer in our family (both sides actually) so I bought this cookbook for myself and one for my mom. The book itself is half information about how cancer works and the benefits of the foods for preventing and fighting cancer written by leading cancer scientists from Quebec and the other half is delicious recipes with the food they talk about, written by top chefs, also from Quebec!
So we decided to take some of the advice (I already started a summary post for this that I will finish up tomorrow!) to heart and we made our very own SUSHI! We used all organic veggies (carrots, green onion, green pepper and sweet potato), avocado and we thought about using the banana to make a bananacado roll but decided against it after tasting the Tamago!
Tamago is a sweet egg omelet and I used this recipe to make it. It is typically made in a special square dish but these instructions are for those people who don't have it...like us! We used fresh pastured eggs for our omelet! We decided to fold our omelet since that's what our Japanese friend did in the little square pan.
Here's a shot of my first roll, tamago, green pepper and carrot! YUM!
This one was my favorite roll, tamago, avocado, green onion and fried sweet potato! The BEST! We opted not to have any seafood since I went to the market late and none of the seafood left was sustainable...
Also, these little white dishes (sorry it's blurry) were found at a yard sale! Who would have thought that you could stop at a yard for a candy thermometer (odd item I know), find it and these little dishes to boot...? Not me but it definitely happened! :)

So we ate our very own delicious sustainable sushi, packed with all the benefits of the seaweed, veggies and soy sauce. Here's to you mom! Happy (belated) Mother's Day!
PS. In case you all thought I was awful for being late...I did call her yesterday! ;)