New ways to prepare fish, Part II

Wild-caught cod in a sweet pepper-tomato sauce with mashed yams and squash.

My wife filled the blender with cut-up sweet peppers, whole garlic cloves, onion and a beefsteak tomato, then had to run out to do an errand.

I took over, squeezing juice from one and a half big lemons into the blender, and used the slow "Chop" setting to puree everything.

I poured the sauce into a non-stick pan, added a large can of organic tomato sauce from Costco Wholesale and about a half-cup of extra-virgin olive oil, and turned on the stove.

Meanwhile, I seasoned and cut up fresh wild-caught cod fillets -- $7.99 a pound at Costco -- and when the sauce was bubbling gently, put the pieces in a non-stick pan, covered it and turned up the flame.

I used lemon juice and Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning on the raw fish.

The fish turned white and was cooked through in 10 to 12 minutes.

   

We ate the cod with mashed Korean sweet yams, Kabocha squash and garlic cloves with butter substitute, olive oil and more no-salt seasoning.

 

We boil the yams with their skin and the squash with the dark-green exterior.

 

We didn't add tomato sauce to the lemony sweet-pepper sauce for fish the last time we made it.

But on Tuesday night, I re-heated 4 cups of leftover sweet pepper-tomato sauce, added a drained can of organic diced tomatoes and some red-pepper flakes, and used that to dress a half-pound of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti.

Whole wheat spaghetti in a lemony sweet pepper-tomato sauce.

 

The cod and spaghetti dinners ended with bowls of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix dressed simply in extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

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Fish dinners in under 30 minutes

Fresh Canadian flounder in a tomato-white wine sauce.

Fresh Pacific cod with Mexican green salsa and tomatoes over brown rice.

With Costco Wholesale's fresh, wild-caught fillets and a few bottles and cans in your cupboard, you can turn out fish dinners in under 30 minutes.

No need for a recipe. A can opener and a large pan with a glass cover is all the equipment you need.

My Costco in Hackensack usually offers wild-caught fillets of haddock from Iceland and flounder from Canada, as well as meaty cod from the Pacific, all for $6.99 or $7.99 a pound. 

I try to buy fish that is packed the same day, as indicated on the Costco label, and I usually can buy a package with under 2 pounds of fillets for 4 people.

Flounder fillets with leftover brown rice and prepared tofu.

For any fresh fish fillet, you can open cans of Kirkland Signature Organic Tomato Sauce and Organic Diced Tomatoes, empty them into the pan and add white wine, lime or lemon juice, garlic powder, red-pepper flakes and dried Italian seasonings.

Bring to a boil under a partial cover. Meanwhile, season the fillets with Kirkland Signature Organic No-Salt Seasoning. 

Turn down the heat to medium, add the fish fillets and cover.

Through a glass cover, you can watch the fish turn white and firm up. The skinless fillets should be ready in about 20 minutes.

A second preparation uses a bottle of Goya or La Costena Mexican Green Salsa, a can of organic diced tomatoes and lime or lemon juice.

Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium, add the fish fillets and cover. 

I like to make big batches of organic brown rice in an electric cooker -- with or without cooked black beans and organic diced tomatoes -- or mashed sweet potatoes and Kabocha squash with olive oil and seasonings, and keep them in the refrigerator to eat with the fish.

A salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix completes the meal. 

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