Summer Meals Call for Fish

The heat of summer makes the thought of heating up your kitchen less than desirable. One easy way to provide the nutrition your family needs, without heating up your kitchen, is to use fish more often. Not only can some varieties of fish be served raw most require very little cooking, so kitchen stoves can often be used at a minimum or you can rely on the grill.

The American Heart Association recommends consumption of fish at least twice each week. Fish has less of the harmful saturated fat and more of the healthful unsaturated, or more specifically Omega-3 fats, so fish can help reduce your risk of heart disease. In addition to helping promote heart health the Omega-3 in fish appears to also help reduce the risk of stroke and may help prevent memory loss. A recent study out of Harvard School of Medicine, and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reported that individuals who consumed the highest amount of omega-3 had a 72% lower risk of death due to all causes. The study looked at 16 years of blood results from about 2700 adults age 65 and older. The study reported that those who consumed the most omega-3 lived, on average, 2.2 years longer than those with the lowest levels.

Omega – 3 fats are found in all fish but are highest in tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout and sardines.  Here are a few cooler ideas for using fish.

·         Choose a firmer fish like tuna and put it on a skewer with veggies and grill briefly

·         Serve grilled salmon, trout, tune or halibut on top of a green veggie salad

·         Use tuna or salmon, canned in water, in a salad. Watch mayo portions or mix with a mix of mayo and spicy mustard

·         Fish tacos are all the rage so try grilled fish, cole slaw and salsa

·         Serve canned tuna with steamed green beans, diced tomatoes and a balsamic vinaigrette

·         Go Mediterranean and serve tuna with chickpeas, tomatoes, parsley and olive oil vinaigrette

·         Make tuna or salmon patties, pan brown and serve on wheat bread or on a salad

·         Use can also bake fish – takes about 8 minutes for thin fish and 15 – 20 for thicker pieces

Take a few minutes next week and add fish to your menu.

Connie Diekman, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD

Nutrition Communications Consultant