White Fish with Mustard Sauce & Quinoa
PIN IT!Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, basically. As a food writer, I’ve been prepping Valentine’s stuff since the end of January, so I’ve had my fill of chocolate hearts and red velvet. So, instead of sharing yet another recipe for “insert heart shaped sweet here,” I’m sharing a recipe you and your lovah (or friend, mom, dog, neighbor, delivery man, random person on the street, mail order bride, weird guy you met online but haven’t met yet) can enjoy for dinner on V-Day. This white fish with mustard sauce and quinoa isn’t just the best thing I’ve had in a while, it’s super healthy to boot!
The great thing about this meal is that you can use any kind of white fish you want. Love cod? Use it! Obsessed with swordfish? Sub it in! The delicious spicy mustard sauce pairs well with just about any kind of flakey white fish, so you can really use whatever the heck you want. I’m serious. I’m giving you the reigns to make whatever you want! (If you burn your house down and/or poison your spouse, I can not be held accountable.)
This meal is perfect for Valentine’s Day for a few reasons. It’s really easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes. With VDAY being on a school night, that definitely helps. Two, it’s light and full of fiber so you’ll have a ton of energy for when you…you know…bow chicka wow wow later in the evening. Third? It’s literally the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in a few weeks. (thatswhatshesaid). Even though the fish is out of this world, I’ve gotta give mad props to the quinoa too. This super trendy grain is really worthy of all the praise it gets from granola types and hipsters.
I love this stuff plain, but I know most people don’t. So, I added some lemon zest, a bit of olive oil, some Parmesan and dill. And of course salt and P. I know better than NOT to reason my food (you hear that Tom Collichio?) It’s so simple but still so full of Mediterranean zest and flavor. Plus quinoa (keen-wah) packs a mean protein punch and contains all 9 essential amino acids. Plus it’s got lots of fiber and healthy whole grains. It’s also naturally low in fat, so paired with a low-fat fish fillet, you can have an entire dinner for less than 500 calories. It’s so good though, I don’t blame you if you end up eating both portions before your partner gets home. Trust me, I almost needed straight jacket restraint yesterday. E should thank the lucky stars he didn’t come home to me face first in mustard sauce.
A big thank you to Hello Fresh, for providing the ingredients and the recipe inspiration! As you know, I’ve worked with Hello Fresh multiple times and I just love, love, love their service. You get three meals worth of ingredients, the recipe card and tons of other recipe inspiration in one giant box. I just can’t say enough amazing things about them, so please check them out on Facebook, Twitter and the Web!
White Fish with Mustard Sauce & Quinoa
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves 2. Recipe slight adapted from Hello Fresh.
Prep time: 5 -10 minutes
Cook time: About 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- Two 4 ounce white fish fillets
- 1 cup dried quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 1/3 cup non-fat Chobani plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup spicy mustard
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dill
- Salt and pepper
Directions:
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring water and chicken stock to a boil. Add quinoa and salt. Bring the mixture back to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover the quinoa with a lid and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes so it doesn’t stick. Once done, remove from pan and mix in juice from 1/2 a lemon, olive oil and salt and pepper.
- To prepare the sauce, mix the Greek yogurt, mustard, chopped shallot, salt and pepper and juice from 1/2 the lemon. Stir to mix.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Place fish fillets on the paper. Cover each fillet with the sauce (putting 1/2 the sauce on each fillet). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 8 – 10 minutes, or until fish is opaque and the glaze is slightly browned.
- Serve each fish filet and quinoa with a sprig of dill.
Nutritional information per serving: (1 fish fillet, 1/2 cup quinoa and sauce)
Calories: 425
Fat: 12 grams
Carbohydrates: 28 grams
Fiber: 3.5 grams
Protein: 36 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 9
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Homemade Spinach Spaghetti
It’s a beautiful morning. The sun peaking through the dead tree branches creates an almost eerie, yet magical glow. It’s a brand new day. I wish, though, in our lives, a brand new day was just that… truly brand new. I wish we didn’t wake up with the burdens of our past and the fear of the future. I believe that each day holds the ability to change your life, but it’s hard to do that when you’re waking up with the heavy chains of yesterdays sorrow. I guess the only thing we can do, despite our sadness, broken hearts and shattered dreams, is appreciate the little things each new day brings. Like a bright sunrise over the trees, a great cup of coffee or a simple plate of homemade spinach spaghetti.
Comfort food has this special power, I think. No matter what you’re going through, one bite instantly warms you up. One bite takes you to another world, another time when nothing troubled you. Nothing was scary, complicated, heartbreaking. When everything was really that simple. Even though those bites eventually end and you’re faced with all of your baggage again, you at least had those few moments of peace and comfort.
Sometimes that’s all we get. 3 – 4 minutes of serenity. But those are the moments we need to hold onto. Those simple minutes when we’re given the chance to forget our woes and our troubles and just enjoy the little things in this life, like those simple plates of homemade spinach spaghetti. These little joys and little moments are sometimes the only things we really have that keep us afloat.
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE SPINACH SPAGHETTI!
Nutritional information per 1 cup cooked pasta:
Calories: 325
Fat: 5.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 46 grams
Fiber: 5 grams
Protein: 11.6 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 6
Creamy White Bean & Broccoli Dip
Sometimes, you just make something that is so good…it’s stupid. Where you are literally laughing at yourself while you eat it because it’s freaking delicious and all you can think to call it is “stupid.” A recipe that makes your educated vocabulary and years of work as a journalist disappear and you type like a cave man. “DIP GOOD. MUST EAT. UGGA UGGA UGGA.” Folks, this creamy white bean & broccoli dip is one of those recipes.
Caveman linguistics aside, this dip was made for skinny Super Bowl eating. It’s creamy, thick and full of amazing flavors like cilantro, lime, toasted pine nuts and pepper. It’s a symphony in your mouth. And the best part ever? It has only 5 grams of fat per 1/4 cup serving! Which trust me, you won’t have any trouble consuming.
To give this dip even more depth (and a bigger punch to the gut of healthy things), I added a head of roasted broccoli, chopped up little carrots and some garlic. Can we talk about how much I love little carrots? Not to be confused with baby carrots, these are like…teenager carrots. Young adults. Old enough to sneak out of the house with boys they met online and then kiss said boys in their old Dodge Durango. Old enough to sneak out of their best friends house, go visit a boy and get violently ill on Dutch brown liqueur. Totally rebellious young adult carrots, wouldn’t you say?
If you don’t want carrots, don’t use them. This dip is really customizable and you can add whatever veggies you love. However, I highly recommend NOT omitting the cilantro. It adds such an amazing flavor to the dip that you just can’t get with any other herb. Unless you are one of those people who literally accosts your face if you ask them if they want cilantro. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? CILANTRO? I CAN’T AND WILL NEVER EAT IT.” If you are one of those people, here’s some advice. Calm down, it’s just an herb. And you can sub out something else, no need to rip my face off.
This dip totally trumps any weird quesos or chunky white “vegetable” dips you can buy at the store. Plus, it’s super healthy, really easy and so good you’ll want to stick one of those swirly straws in it and suck away.
Creamy White Bean & Broccoli Dip
Yields about 2 1/2 cups, serves about 10.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 can (15 ounces) white canneloni beans, drained
- 1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup chopped carrots
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- Salt and pepper
- About 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- Juice from one lime
- About 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- About 2 tablespoons water*
*Add water if mixture is too thick. Totally optional.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking dish liberally with nonstick cooking spray. Add broccoli, carrots and garlic to the pan. Liberally season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 10 – 12 minutes, or until nicely browned. Remove from pan and place into a food processor. Add white beans, cream cheese, olive oil, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper. Pulse on low until mixture is thick and smooth. Add water if too thick.
- In a skillet over medium heat, toast pine nuts for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Garnish the dip with pine nuts and additional cilantro and enjoy!
Nutritional information per 1/4 cup:
Calories: 114
Fat: 5 grams
Carbohydrates: 11.7 grams
Fiber: 2.75 grams
Protein: 4.9 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 3
Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Pizza
Guys, do you remember finals week in college? You know, where you had 3 papers, 4 finals, 2 presentations and a speech due all in the same 3 days and you were so stressed you could explode? Where your eyeballs were so red, puffy and glazed over your friends thought you were coming off a bender? Yeah, so that’s what my week is like right now. I’m so stressed and overwhelmed I could set myself on fire. Hence the lack of posts. But, I have something awesome for you today. This buffalo chicken cauliflower pizza is perfect for your Super Bowl activities.
This was my first time making a cauliflower crust and I must say, I dug it. It was definitely not a regular pizza crust, but it was still so flavorful and crispy. You get all of that earthy, hearty flavor and texture from cauliflower but in a very underwhelming way. Probably because all I could taste was the buffalo chicken and gooey mozzarella. You can top cauliflower crust with whatever your heart desires. I’m in a serious relationship with buffalo chicken, though, so he got first dibs.
They key to a crispy crust is to make sure you spread it out as thin as you can without breaking it. If you try to make a thicker dough, the cauliflower won’t crisp and you’ll be left with pizza toppings on mashed cauliflower. Which is still edible, but definitely not ideal. Especially if you’re trying to trick your husband and his friends to eat it because it’s healthier.
My husband didn’t fall for the ploy. “I can taste the cauliflower, WAHHHHHHH.” Which I promptly responded “FINE! MORE FOR ME!” And then I shoveled the entire pizza into my mouth. It wasn’t the most mature, adult or healthy moment of my life, but alas, we all have those right? However, all that buffalo gave me some seirous night sweats and even weirder dreams. Let’s just say they involved Adam Richman and a squid. I won’t divulge further.
CHECK OUT SHE KNOWS FOR THE AMAZING RECIPE!
Nutritional information per slice:
Calories: 282
Fat: 10 grams
Carbohydrates: 5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Protein: 20 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 5
Mini Savory Onion Cheesecakes
So, who else isn’t ready at all for the Super Bowl and would rather rewatch all of Downton Abbey with wine? *Raises hand shamefully.* I must admit, I’m not a huge football girl. I used to be and then I found that I much prefer to watch dramatic soaps and unrealistic Lifetime movies. However, I can appreciate everything the Super Bowl represents and I just adore game-day food. But not just wings and pizza. I like gourmet game-day food. Like goat cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers, brie and fruit canapès and of course, these mini savory onion cheesecakes.
That’s right, SAVORY cheesecakes. At first, I was a little weary of them too. I mean, who puts onions in a cheesecake? What kind of demented freak? And then, because I had to taste test it, I smeared a little bit of the gooey cheese on a cracker and took a bite.
After one bite of the soft cheese and the caramelized onions, I thought “What kind of demented freak DOESN’T put onions on cheesecake?” It makes so much sense, in a weird way. Because of the soft caramelized onions and the savory flavor, you forget you’re eating a cheesecake at all. In fact, it’s more like an awesome mound of soft cheese and perfectly cooked onions. This is most definitely the perfect game-day appetizer because it’s sexy, gourmet and still absolutely delectable.
It’s not just great for Super Bowl Sunday either. This stunning app is perfect for the Oscars,Valentine’s Day, date night or to bring with you when you visit your snarky neighbor who always seems to have the cleanest house, the most well behaved children, the perfect body and the most amazing outfits you’ve ever seen. She’ll totally look at these and go “Wow, you are so creative!” in that tone of voice that indicates that she is really jealous she didn’t think of it first.
And you know what guys? I’ll totally let you pretend you made it up, just for the sake of watching that smug neighbor’s face. Want the delicious recipe? GRAB IT HERE ON FABULOUS FOODS!
Nutritional information per 1/2 cheesecake:
Calories: 114.5
Fat: 7.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 7.1 grams
Fiber: 1.5 grams
Protein: 4.2 grams
Weight Watchers Points: 3
Claire
Tags:appetizer recipe, cheesecake recipe, healthy recipe, low fat recipe, Super Bowl recipe
