Tastes Like Chicken

I didn't have a meal planned for tonight because the kid was supposed to have soccer practice, immediately followed by flag football practice (no tackle in this house!), but due to some scheduling items, we had to skip football. Therefore, I decided to pull together a last-minute meal using ingredients I had on hand.

Usually, I do not have snapper fillets just laying around the house, but a couple of weeks ago, at the "gentle" urging of my trainer, I bought some frozen snapper fillets with the intention of eating them when I was flying solo for dinner. Honestly (and strangely?) I have never prepared snapper and don't have a strong recollection of ordering it in restaurants (and I do go out pretty regularly), so I wasn't sure how it would taste - my trainer promised it pretty much "tastes like chicken" so, OK, I went with it.

Snapper, since I assume you are wondering, is high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, and low in saturated fat. I guess it isn't always the best choice when it comes to sustainable harvesting, so my bad. (I am not an expert  - just relaying information I found online.)  

Baked Snapper with Chipotle Butter
Source: Cooking Light, May 2003

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (used 1 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp paprika (used 1 tsp)
• 1/4 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/8 tsp pepper (skip)
• 4 6-oz snapper or other firm whitefish fillets
• Cooking spray
• 1 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced (I just used some sauce)
• Lemon wedge (skip)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Combine the first 4 ingredients; sprinkle evenly over fish. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; bake 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
• While fish bakes, combine the butter and chile. Spread butter mixture evenly over fish. Serve with lemon wedges.

Yield: 4 servings
Per serving: 203 calories; 5.4g fat (sat: 2.3g, mono: 1.3g; poly: 0.9g); protein: 35.2g; choles: 71mg; sodium: 317mg; carbs: 1.6g

Edamame Couscous
Source: Health magazine, September 2002

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp salt (skip)
• 1 c. frozen shelled edamame, thawed
• 3/4 c. uncooked couscous (I use whole wheat)
• 1.5 tsp fresh minced parsley (skip - didn't have any)
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (skip)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

• Bring 1 cup of water and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the edamame, and cook 30 seconds. Stir in the couscous and remaining ingredients. Remove the mixture from the heat, cover it tightly and let it stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Yield: 4 servings (I assumed 1/2 c. per serving of cooked)
Per serving: 218 calories; 5g fat (sat 1g; mono 1g; poly 2g); choles: 0mg; sodium: 306mg; protein: 13g; fiber: 4g

Reviews:
Full disclosure - I only had two fillets, so the kid ate panko crusted halibut that I also had on hand. He loved it. He did not love the edamame couscous. The hubs really liked the snapper, and I did too, even though it didn't really taste like chicken to me (sorry MV!). The chipotle butter added a nice little kick - even when used sparingly. We both liked the edamame couscous.

Ranking:
At the suggestion of my brillz and bubbly pal HK, I am now going to incorporate a ranking/sorting system with each of the recipes. Of course, because my technical skills are sometimes challenged, bear with me as I continue to refine this.

One Fork: Not good, would not make again
Two Forks: So-so, only worth the effort if particularly motivated
Three Forks: Very good, but not top of the pops
Four Forks: Outstanding

Baked Snapper with Chipotle Butter: Three Forks

Holy half-cup serving!