Thai Coconut Red Fish Curry with Quinoa

I'm super excited for today's post for two main reasons - first is that this is one of the tastiest dishes I've had in a while, and second is to announce that I've partnered with the Sustainable Seafood Blog Project!

The idea of the Sustainable Seafood Blog Project is to unite food bloggers and businesses interested in promoting sustainable seafood choices.  When Jessie from Life as a Strawberry asked if I'd be interested in joining, I admit that I was a tiny bit hesitant because while I've heard a lot about sustainable seafood lately and know that it's a really important issue, I didn't feel like I was well informed on it enough myself to talk about it with you guys.  But after a bit of research, I was happy to find out that there are so many resources out there to help consumers make smart choices, so while the idea of sustainable seafood might sound complicated, it's much easier than you might think!

We've all probably heard about the health benefits of eating fish, but many of us (myself included) are perhaps less aware of the impact certain fishing practises have had on the environment, including overfishing certain species of fish, damaging the environment through harmful fishing methods, and catching unwanted types of fish or marine life.

Without getting into too much detail or trying to sounding too preachy, the idea of sustainable seafood is to support fishing practices that will not damage our oceans or deplete marine life.  The infographic below (courtesy of Jessie) summarizes these issues in a much prettier way than I could put together!

I'm happy to say that the two main grocery stores I shop at here in Ontario (Loblaw and Sobeys) have made commitments to selling sustainable seafood, and in addition, the Marine Stewardship Council has made it really easy to identify smart choices when you're shopping by just looking for their seal of approval on the product (see the blue checkmark in the images below).

I still only buy fish (or any meat) when it's on sale because it's usually expensive, but all the products pictured below were on sale and cost just as much or less than the fish without those labels, so it's nice that I didn't have to pay a fortune to choose them (unlike with organic fruits and vegetables)!

And if you want to read more, there are tons of resources available to you, such as:

The Marine Stewardship Council
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch
Vancouver Aquarium Ocean Wise
Sea Choice
And of course, the resources page of the Sustainable Seafood Blog Project.

So moving on to this recipe, this curry is one of the tastiest meals I've made in a while!  It may look a little complicated at first, but is actually really easy (sound familiar?)... All you have to do is sauté some veggies, throw in a little curry paste (I used red curry paste but green or yellow would work well too!), coconut milk, and a little chicken broth, then add the fish to simmer and that's basically it.

Most curries like this would be served with white rice, but to add a little more nutrition I decided to use quinoa, which I think tastes even better.  The flavours in this dish all come together in such a great way, and it's a pretty healthful meal too, so you can feel good about eating it for lots of reasons!

And if you like seafood, please check out these fabulous bloggers who are also part of the Sustainable Seafood project and are posting more great recipes today!

Buffalo Shrimp Tacos from Barbells and Bellinis

Cobb Salad Salmon Burgers with Blue Cheese Mayo from Cooking for Keeps

30 Minute Skillet Shrimp Paella from Wanna Be A Country Cleaver

Strawberry Basil Glazed Salmon from Life As A Strawberry

Crispy Baked Salmon Sticks from Running to the Kitchen 
Beer steamed mussels with ginger, mango, and lime from Mangoes and Palm Trees

Thai Coconut Red Fish Curry with Quinoa

Adapted from several sources, such as recipes from The Foodie Physician and Kristen’s Kitchen

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

~2 cups cooked quinoa

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 medium shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 red bell pepper, sliced into 1” long slices

1 yellow pepper, sliced into 1” long slices

1 thai chili pepper, minced (optional for added spice)

2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 cup fat-free low sodium chicken broth

1 (400mL or 13.5oz) can light coconut milk

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1-1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

150g or about 5oz snow peas

4-6 white fish fillets, cut into 1” pieces – choose a mild white fish that is a sustainable option for your region, such as wild Pacific cod, Wild Alaskan or Pacific halibut, or wild haddock (Canadian)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions:

Cook a box of quinoa according to package directions – I ended up using about 1/2 cup cooked quinoa per serving which was approximately one 200g box.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add shallot and garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.  Add ginger, red and yellow peppers, and chili pepper.  Let cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened.  Add curry paste, stir to coat, and let cook for another minute.  Add chicken broth and coconut milk and let simmer for 8-10 minutes.  Add fish sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice, and let simmer for another 1-2 minutes.  Add fish, cover, and let simmer 5-7 minutes, until fish is cooked through (may depend on type and thickness of fish).  Season with salt.

Add about 1/2 cup quinoa to each of four bowls.  Pour curry overtop and garnish with about 1 tablespoon cilantro, if desired.  Serve warm.

Sesame Soba Noodle Salad

I'm back!  I had a wonderful, relaxing week on vacation in beautiful Cuba, but now I'm having a hard time adjusting back to work and reality!  I apologize for the lack of posts lately, as well as my delay in checking in with other blogs (I currently have over 800 unread blog posts in my Google Reader to get to!), but I'm hoping this tasty and refreshing sesame soba noodle salad will help make up for it!

This is actually a dish inspired by a meal I ate in a Japanese restaurant on my earlier trip to Singapore.  I wasn't exactly sure what I was ordering when I requested the soba noodle salad, but I certainly didn't expect to see lettuce and noodles mixed together!  I didn't have high hopes for it when it appeared in front of me, but was pleasantly surprised when I took a few bites.  Since the noodles were cold, the whole salad was light and refreshing with an interesting mix of textures that worked well together.  But what really made the dish stand out was the delicious sesame dressing that was served with it.  

You may remember the picture I posted of the dish back in my recap of what I ate in Singapore, where I promised I would try to replicate it back at home.  Well, I stayed true to my word and recreated it the weekend after I got home from that trip!

The salad part was easy - I just used some of my favourite salad ingredients, topped them with a pile of cooked soba noodles and a garnish of sliced nori and sesame seeds.  The salad dressing was a little harder as I had to play around with different ingredients quite a bit until I found the perfect balance, but I think I ended up with a pretty amazing dressing!

This salad tasted just as good as the one I remembered eating in Singapore - it was cool, fresh, and full of flavour thanks to the filling sesame peanut dressing.  It's great for summer and I will definitely be making this again now that my trip to Cuba has given me a taste of the hot weather I have to look forward to!

Sesame Soba Noodle Salad

Inspired by a dish I ate at Rakuzen in Singapore

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon honey

Dash of salt

2 tablespoons water

For the Salad:

4-6 oz soba noodles (depending on desired amount)

Lettuce (desired amount for 2 people)

Sliced cucumber, carrot, mushrooms, and snowpeas (or other desired salad ingredients)

For Topping:

1 sheet of nori, thinly sliced for garnishing

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

Cook soba noodles as per package ingredients.  Drain and rinse well with cold water.  Let cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the salad dressing.  Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking, and add more water to thin it out if necessary.

Divide lettuce and salad ingredients between two bowls/plates.  Top with cooked cooled soba noodles.  Garnish with nori and sesame seeds and serve with sesame dressing.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Asia a few times now, and while I love experiencing the incredible and diverse food Asia has to offer, one of the things I always find myself missing is a fresh, crisp salad. A lot of vegetables over there are cooked, and sometimes you can’t trust the fresh ones because they may have been washed in tap water. Towards the end of my trips, I actually start dreaming about raw vegetables and would give up all the amazing food there just to have one bowl of refreshing salad!

So the first thing I did when I got home from my most recent trip was to make myself a giant bowl of salad! I wanted to make something with Asian ingredients though, and realized it was the perfect time to try a salad recipe I’d had bookmarked for a year but kept forgetting to make: this mandarin chicken salad from Munchin with Munchkin. While it looked like a lot of ingredients to buy, I actually had all the ingredients for the dressing already, and I didn't mind buying the vegetables because I knew I'd eat whatever was leftover as a snack, so it was money well spent!

I changed quite a few little things with the recipe in order to suit my tastes (and based on what ingredients I had on hand), so be sure to check out the original recipe too so that you can also adjust the ingredients to your tastes! You should also check out the rest of Kris’ amazing blog while you’re there – it was just voted the Best Recipe Blog in The Kitchn’s Homies awards!
This salad was so fresh and flavorful and exactly what I was craving after my trip. I loved how the sweet mandarins were balanced by all the crunchy vegetables, and the sweet and sour vinaigrette gave it the Asian flavour I was still desiring. I have a feeling I’ll be craving this salad a lot more now that I know how much I love it!

Mandarin Chicken Salad

Adapted from Munchin with Munchkin

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Dressing:

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (optional for a bit of spice)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sweet Thai chili sauce 
Dash of salt

For the Salad:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded into small pieces (I cooked mine in sesame oil)
2 cups lettuce
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup snow peas
1/4 cup shelled edamame, cooked as per package directions
2-3 mandarins, segmented
2 tablespoons ground peanuts (ground in a food processor)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the dressing. Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine salad ingredients, toss with dressing, and divide salad between two plates/bowls, with the peanuts and sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Notes:

- Next time I might eliminate the carrots and snow peas and increase the mandarins. Choose ingredients and amounts to your own taste!
- Optional additional toppings may include green onions, cilantro, and chow mein noodles