5 Fish-Friday Meal Ideas

Fish is a great, protein-rich, ingredient for cooking with and when better to cook it than on "Fish Friday". Why is Friday a popular time to eat fish? It apparently stems back to Catholic and Christian tradition not to eat meat on Friday's for religious reasons. Instead, fish was eaten. I think, also, that the term "Fish Friday" has become popular because it has a nice, alliterative ring for marketing purposes!

I personally eat fish whenever I fancy it and have been reducing my meat-intake generally to have a more vegetarian diet. Fish will not be leaving my diet at any point soon, though, it's too fun to cook with. Since I enjoy it so much I am going to share 5 different meal ideas based around fish.
First up, we have a light-meal option: Tuna pitta bread "pizza"

1. Tuna pitta bread "pizza"

This is super simple to make and is great for lunch. Just toast a wholemeal pitta bread, spread on a layer of tomato puree, and top with cooked, flaked tuna. Serve with some refreshing chopped cucumber.

TIP: If you'd like to make it into dinner, use two pitta bread's and serve alongside a nice leafy salad with sweetcorn, cucumber, olives, and fresh tomatoes.

If you like this idea, why not check out this other pizza-style lunch option

Next up, is a delicious salmon dish

2. Balsamic-glazed salmon with roast veg

I just adore salmon, when cooked just right, it has such a lovely melt-in-the-mouth texture and tastes wonderful. To make this I baked the salmon in my usual way which is wrapping the salmon in a parcel of foil drizzled with olive oil and topped with freshly ground black pepper. To make the topping, simply drizzle ready made balsamic glaze over the fillet and sprinkle dried dill over the top. For a spicy kick, add some dried chilli flakes too. Add sliced baby plum tomatoes and strips of red pepper to at the sides of the fish fillet and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Gather the foil at either side and scrunch together at the top to construct a makeshift parcel. Cook the salmon in a pre-heated oven set at 180C for 18-20 minutes. For the roasted sweetheart cabbage, sliced the cabbage into 'rounds' and place onto a greaseproof paper-lined baking tray. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle on a little sea salt. Cook at the same time as the salmon but give the salmon a few minutes head start. Make sure everything is cooked through and piping hot before serving.

Thirdly, here is a tasty take on the classic seaside British food, fish n' chips

3. Breadcrumb-topped cod with sweet potato fries

The mixture of traditional fish and chips component, cod, with sweet potato fries is perhaps a bit like a British-American fusion! As well as the sweet potato fries, I served with a baked tomato and steamed garden peas for a colourful and nutrient-rich meal. There is little explanation needed for the cooking of this meal, just top the cod fillet with breadcrumbs (I use a grater and the heel of bread loaf for this) and dot some butter over the top before baking. Cod takes a little less time to cook than salmon so bake for around 15 minutes. It will be piping hot, firm to the touch and opaque when cooked.

TIP: Mix in some parsley with the breadcrumbs for additional flavour.

Another idea is this really satisfying meal I came up with the other day when I fancied curry but also fancied tuna and didn't have any rice. Enter, my quirky creation of tuna curry with spaghetti.

4. Tuna curry  

After tasting this experimental dish, I totally intended to jot down the recipe but in my enjoying of the food, it slipped my mind... Basically, I steamed 1 small onion, a handful of fresh tomatoes, and some garlic powder in a microwave steamer then added half a carton of tomato passata along with a generous sprinkling of turmeric, 1 tsp mild curry powder,  some cumin, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Finally, I added flaked tuna from a tin and microwaved on high till everything was hot throughout. I served with cooked pasta but rice would be the more traditional accompaniment to this. I have to admit, though, I did really like the curry-flavour with pasta.

Finally, here is a nice summery dish packed with goodness!

5. Steamed haddock on a bed of superfood grains 

Superfood grains are one of my store cupboard essentials since the ones I buy are ready to eat (or can be heated in just 1 minute) and are a properly nutritious food source being a good source of plant-based protein, carbs, and fibre. The combination I use most often is quinoa, pearl barley, and wild rice or lentils. For this meal, I combined the pre-cooked grains with a carton of chopped tomatoes, a touch of garlic, and herbs in a pan until heated through. Once heated through, add in some spinach which should wilt with the heat. Since white fish has a delicate flavour, you don't want the garlic to be overpowering so just add a little. For the fish, I placed a frozen fillet of haddock in a microwave steamer with a tablespoon of water and some black pepper and cooked for approx. 3/2-4 minutes on the high setting of my 900W microwave. All microwaves vary, though, so consult your microwave's user guide for reference. Timings will also vary depending on the size of the fillet; it is very easy to overcook a fish in a microwave!

TIP: Add some rocket for a peppery finish

(P.S I'm aware the picture is of salmon... I couldn't find the photo I took with haddock)

These ideas should have given you some fresh ideas as to what to do when cooking with fish. Feel free to use the ideas as a starting point and experiment on your own; see where your culinary creativity takes you! I'd love to see what you create, so it'd be great if you shared it using the hashtag #inspiredbyHLDCblog

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@HelenCRedman