PESCATARIANS! I need ideas

deedeefelldown

Hi all! I've recently become a pescatarian and am loving it but I am running out of ideas. I love fish but need more variety. So far I've been cooking/eating salmon (LOVE IT), tilapia, swai/basa, baccalao, flounder (boring), cod, catfish, yellow snapper and shrimp. Not a fan of mussels or clams. I love red snapper but only know how to cook it the West Indian way - fried or fried then stewed and want to avoid frying or do that on rare occasions. Alternatively I also cook Gardein beefless ground for my spaghetti with "meat" sauce nights and it tastes like the real stuff. I am willing to also try meat alternatives but on rare occasions because isn't a lot of that processed anyway?

In my fridge I have some sort of Italian sausage substitute, a Mexican chipotle meatless sausage and chicken seitan. I bought these about a month ago and realize I don't know what the heck to do with them. I'm actually most intimidated by the seitan. When I bought them I figured I would just use them the way that I would use meat but am drawing a blank.

I love curry but need to know what fish would hold up to well to curry and stewing.

All ideas greatly appreciated!

lynn_glenmont

Hopefully you're still keeping an eye out for replies.

I'm an omnivore, but I eat a lot of vegetarian and vegan meals, and am trying to eat fish once or twice a week, although I usually just resort to salmon, tuna, or sardines--I tend to stick to frozen or canned at home, because I often grocery shop in the evening, and I don't want to cook after that, and I don't like keeping fresh fish around for a day before I cook it.

You seem to eat a lot of different fish, so I'm guessing you're looking more for ideas on the non-fish side, but I will throw out the idea of scallops, even though you don't care for mussels and clams -- they're much plumper, and they hold up well to broiling, so you wouldn't have to fry them.

On the "meat alternatives" side, I don't do a lot of the imitation meat products, unless you count tofu, which I stir fry with veggies or throw in hot and sour soup on occasion. If you're stir frying, it helps to take a few minutes to press the liquid out (wrap in cheese cloth or clean towel and put a weight, like a heavy dish, on it, in a colander). I also try to keep some veggies burgers in the freezer (I like Morningstar farms mushroom lovers topped with pescetarian-friendly worcestershire sauce, and some of the southwest-spice black bean burgers are very good too) for when I get a craving.

Instead of the imitation meat products, you could eat the whole foods or traditional "processed" foods that those products are based on: beans in their infinite variety, whole grains, veggies, mushrooms, cheese, and eggs, if you're ovo-lacto-pescetarian. Plus nuts and seeds, of course.

One night recently I had black beans topped with sauteed spinach and shallots with a couple scrambled eggs mixed with nutritional yeast and a fried egg (because I couldn't make up my mind between fried and scrambled :-), all topped with a little greek yogurt and salsa. Mmmm.

Another recent evening meal was a bowl of whole grain rice (a blend of brown and red rice), with one side topped with sauteed spinach and shallots and the other side topped with chopped dried apricots that I cooked in unsweetened almond milk until the milk reduced and thickened, mixed with cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground coriander seed, and both sides topped with almonds -- so dinner and dessert in the same bowl! Very yum -- I'm going to have to make that again soon.

I would think you could use the Italian sausage substitute with pasta and marinara sauce, or in a baked pasta dish like lasagna or ziti. I would roll the Mexican meatless sausage in corn tortillas, with sauteed onions and peppers (put the rolled up tortillas in a casserole dish, add the sauteed onions and peppers on top, and put a cumin and chili-spiked tomato sauce or canned diced tomatoes over that, topped with cheese (jack, queso fresco, even mozzarella) and bake. I'm afraid I've got no ideas on the seitan; I've only ever eaten it as is, for a quick protein fix, rather than using it in a recipe.

I've never made a fish curry, but I would think the cod would hold up well, and shrimp seems like a natural choice (just put it in near the end -- no need to cook it the whole time the curry cooks).

If you'd like to look at my food diary for ideas, send me a friend request.