Whether you wantto improve your heart health, your sleep or your overall nutrition, adding fishintoyour diet is a smart choice. Seafood is the best dietary source of vitaminD and heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Getting more of these essentialnutrients through your diet can have a big impact onyour health.
The idea of eatingseafood regularly might make your stomach churn if you aren’t a fan of fish.Maybeyou’ve had bad experiences with stinky tuna salad, mushy fish sticks or staletasting sushi. Or, maybeyou don’t like the texture or “fishy” taste of theseafood you’ve tried. It can be hard to get past thesetypes of bad experienceswith food. Fortunately, there are many kinds of seafood. Once you learnwhattypes of seafood to avoid and the best ways to prepare it, you may convert froma fish hater to afish lover.
Give these tipsa try to find seafood you can enjoy!
Tip #1 – Avoid “fishy” types of seafood.
If you aren’t afan of seafood because of its “fishy” taste, you aren’t alone! Lots of peopledon’t likefish because of their experience eating fish with a strong flavorlike sea bass or trout. Not all seafoodhas that distinctive flavor. There are manytypes of fish with a mild flavor similar to chicken. The bestfish to start offwith are tilapia, arctic char, cod, haddock, flounder, sole and walleye. Youcansubstitute any of these fish into your favorite chicken recipe. Shrimp andscallops also have a nice,mild flavor.
Tip #2 – Get rid of the briny seafood smell before cooking.
The strong smellthat fish has is another common turn off. There is a simple solution to get ridof thatsmell: squeeze a lemon over the fish fillets before cooking. The acidin the lemon juice will eliminatethe odor. If you don’t want your fish totaste like lemon, don’t worry! Unless you add more lemon juice,it willevaporate when it cooks without leaving behind the flavor.
Tip #3 – Don’t wait to cook it!
Waiting too longto cook seafood can also give it an unpleasant flavor or smell. Fish tastesbestcooked the day you bring it home from the market or immediately afterthawing it. Two to three days isthe limit on how long you can have uncooked fishin your fridge before it begins to turn. If you can’tcook it the day that youbring it home, you should store it in the freezer until you are ready toprepareit.
Tip #4 –Usefish to make your favorite meals.
You don’t haveto be an accomplish chef to make a delicious meal with seafood. Mild fish areeasy tocook and versatile. Instead of completely changing your meal plan, youcan use fish instead ofchicken or beef to make your favorite foods. Forexample, you can make tacos with grilled tilapia ordo a seafood spin onburgers with tuna. If chicken fingers are a big hit at your house, you cansubstitute halibut and make fish sticks.
TIP #5 – Spice it up.
If you love boldor rich flavors, don’t be afraid to season fish with a marinade or spice rub.Fishabsorbs seasoning better than chicken or beef. Once you get used tocooking it, you may prefer it toother meats because of how well it absorbsflavors.
Tip #6 – Make sure not to overcook it!
Fish should betender and flaky after you take it out of the oven or off the grill. Therubbery or drytexture that you might associate with seafood actually comesfrom overcooking. Seafood has a muchshorter cooking time than other meats. Youusually only need to cook it for 2-4 minutes on each side.When you make it, besure to keep a close eye on the timer and remove it from the heat according tothe recipe instructions.
Don’t you resignyourself to swallowing down big pills of fish oil! Try out these tips from makeseafoodeven a fish hater can love. If you are looking for meal ideas, checkout All Our Favorite Recipes!
