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FeedReworking Mexican Food
Doing Mejicano healthy
By gayla pierce
Three knee surgeries have been a good excuse to pass on exercise. The reality is that I’ve done so much physical therapy on my knees over the last 10 years, they’re the strongest parts of my body! Let’s face it...I HATE to exercise. And, wow, can I come up with some pretty good excuses to avoid it. Not only would moving a little help me feel better, it would also allow me to eat a little more, too. You’d think that might be incentive enough to get me moving. It’s not.Denial and delusion, that’s where my efforts at weight loss have been stuck. Until recently. Back in October, I came to the conclusion that unless I gave in and made some lifestyle changes, my stubborn streak was going to win the battle of the bulge. The decision was made; October 29, 2007 began the diet. The exercise? Well, let’s just say I’m making progress, but it’s slow and I still seem to be able to find ways to blow off going to the gym, although I am doing Pilates twice a week pretty faithfully. To date, I’ve lost 16 pounds. I also decided to dedicate the entire year of 2008 to rewiring my eating and exercise habits. Those habits didn’t just happen over night, and rewiring them won’t either. A year of purposeful, mindful eating and better exercise awareness and activity should help immensely.
So what does this have to do with Mexican food? Shortly after the euphoria of the initial diet success wore off, I realized I was in this for the long haul it was going to be a lot of work. I also realized that I was going to have to find a way to incorporate Mexican food into my diet without taking a huge hit on the nutrition contribution. There was just no way I could give up my favorite food. Luckily, I’ve had the opportunity to travel extensively in Mexico and know that the depth and breadth of the cuisine far exceeds the local taco shop menus here in San Diego. I’ve also had the tremendous good fortune to have studied Mexican cooking with some well known famous chefs – such as Diana
Kennedy and Rick Bayless – as well as some not-so famous, but equally talented chefs and home cooks in Mexico. I quickly realized I didn’t have to give up Mexican food, and that I had enough skill and knowledge about the cuisine to work it into my regular diet by changing the recipes as needed.Mexican cuisine is rich in fruits, vegetables and seafood. The choices were in my hands and I chose to start with Pesacado Veracruzana. It’s a dish that clearly shows the Spanish/Moorish influence of early Mexico. It’s also a dish that belies the typical idea of Mexican food that is grease-laden, heavy and buried under a sea of ubiquitous melted yellow cheese. Fresh, tangy and delicious, it’s also an easy recipe to make, even on a weeknight.
PESCADO VERACRUZANA
This recipe makes six to eight generous servings and can be made with a whole fish, fish filets or fish steaks. Red snapper is the fish of choice in Mexico, but really any firm flesh fish can be used. Don’t try and cut the recipe in half for a smaller yield, just remove half the sauce before sliding the fish in to cook, and freeze the other half for future use. I believe this was originally a recipe from Rick Bayless.
Start with three pounds of red, ripe tomatoes. If the fresh tomatoes in the store aren’t very good, use a couple of 28-ounce cans of good quality diced tomatoes, drained reserving some of the juice.
The skin can be left on the tomatoes, but it’s really better to remove it since it will come off when the tomato gets cooked, and nothing is less appetizing than little rolled up pieces of tomato skin floating around in the sauce. (Skinning tomatoes is easy. Here’s a quick tip. Cut an "X" into the bottom of each tomato to facilitate loosening the skin)
Drop the tomatoes a few at a time into vigorously boiling, unseasoned, water.
The skin around the "X" will begin to split and shrink away from the meat of the tomato. If the tomato is really ripe the split will happen very quickly, if the tomato isn’t quite ripe, it takes a little longer to split. Scoop the tomatoes out and plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
Pull the skin off the tomato and cut the tomatoes into ½ -inch cubes
Set diced tomatoes aside and thinly slice one medium, white onion, which is the most commonly used onion in Mexican cooking. (Yellow or red onions can also be used.)Much like Asian stir-fry it's easiest and most practical to get everything ready to go before starting the sauce. After slicing the onions, mince four cloves of garlic, measure out 1 1/2 teaspoons of Mexican oregano, crushing it against the palm of the hand to release the volatile oils and aroma. Mince up a bunch of flat leaf parsley and set aside four bay leaves. Drain and rinse 1/4 cup of capers, slice three pickled jalapeño peppers, and roughly chop one cup of pitted green olives.
Once everything is sliced, diced and minced it’s time to cook.
Sauté the onions in two tablespoons of olive oil for about five minutes, or until they began to soften. Add the chopped tomatoes, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Cook the mixture for a couple of minutes, then add a cup of water and simmer for at least 15 minutes (if using canned tomatoes, add some of the reserved juice back in instead of water). Then add one teaspoon of salt, stir and continue to simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. If sauce is still really thin and soupy, continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes.
The original recipe calls for using a four-pound whole red snapper (huachinango in Spanish). To prepare the fish, make several slashes on each side of the whole fish and marinate for up to four hours in the juice of two limes and salt. Two to 2 ½-pounds of fresh red snapper filets can be used instead. Lightly sprinkle the fish filets with sea salt, then squeeze on the lime juice and wrap in plastic wrap to marinate for about 20 minutes. Slip the fish filets into the sauce and cook until done, about 15 minutes (actual cooking time will depend upon the thickness and number of filets).
To cook the whole fish, place it in a baking dishand pour enough sauce over the top to coat it well. Cover with foil and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until it flakes easily. As with the fish filets, the actual cooking time will vary depending upon the thickness and size of the fish. Pescado Veracruzana made with a whole fish makes an impressive party dish.
The fish can be served plain or with white rice or small new potatoes, and lots of fresh, hot corn tortillas for sopping up the sauce. (If dieting, omit the tortillas and serve with 1/3-cup of steamed brown rice...drat that diet.)
Calories = 350, Fat = 9 grams (25-percent of calories from fat), Protein = 49 grams, Cholesterol = 84 grams, Carbohydrates = 11 grams, Fiber = 3 grams, Sodium = 617 milligrams. (Nutrient data does not include rice)
Dieting never tasted so good!!
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