Grilled Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Salsa and Broccolini

Last night’s dinner was a super success. I had hubs pick out the fish for us when we were at the farmer’s market yesterday (quickly becoming my favorite Sunday morning activity with the kids — helps P try new foods, too!) as I really want to get him involved in the food we eat. The best way to do this (in my experience) is to have him grill the food…and to have him pick it out himself.

Yesterday he chose a GORGEOUS mahi mahi (after helping P make friends with the little guy to our left…this lil’ dude was about three inches long).

I wasn’t sure what I could do with the mahi mahi as I sometimes have a major fear of “new to me” ingredients. But if he was comfortable grilling it, I was sure I could figure out a side, marinade and/or sauce. Apparently, I mastered two of the three (in hubs’ opinion).

Once we were home and were unpacking the days glory, I noticed that the pineapple that I had purchased two weeks ago (before “the sick”) was on last legs. It had to be used. And from there I got creative!

The fish marinade:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (we used low sodium)
• 3 limes (zest and juice)
• 2 tablespoons of grated ginger
• 3 tablespoons of cilantro, finely chopped
• salt/pepper
• 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil (for the high temps)

The pineapple topping/salsa:

• At least a cup of freshly cubed pineapple (reserve the juices when cutting)
• 1/2 of finely chopped vidalia onion
• 1 tablespoon of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of super finely chopped jalapeno
• 12 mint leaves chiffonaded and then finely chopped
• Squeeze of lime juice

I forgot to take a picture of the final plate…because we dove into it so quickly that I didn’t even have time to consider it. It looked and smelled THAT good.

Before doing anything else, whisk all of the ingredients for the marinade together and then place the fish flesh side down (skin up) into the marinade in a dish (I used a pirex pan).

Then, go outside and clean the grates on your grill VERY well and coat them in grapeseed oil…while the grill is still cold.  Come back inside and prepare the salsa.

Chop all of the ingredients, mix in a glass bowl, taste and add more heat from the jalapeno if it seems light on heat or add some more lime juice if it needs more acid and let them sit. Make sure you have put back all of the pineapple juices lost when cutting it up. Because hubs likes his food extra hot, I chopped up a bit more jalapeno for him to add after I had plated dinner.

Once the fish has sat in the marinade for at least 30 minutes, it is ready to grill. Hubs took over at this point but we followed this tutorial. Basically, hot grill skin side down first for 8 minutes or until the bottom side is turning white (1/4 of the way up), flip and cook until the other side is almost completely opaque (about another 8 minutes). Hubs made sure to pour the marinade over the fish throughout the cooking.

While he was outside cooking the fish, I steamed the broccolini in my wok with the bamboo steamer. I salted the water prior to turning on the heat and squeezed a bit of lemon on it at the very end of cooking.

Once the fish was finished cooking, we served it immediately. And it was freaking DELICIOUS! The perfect mix of hot and sweet and tangy. It tasted fresh and light…but amazingly filling, too. The perfect meal.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi and Mama’s Asparagus Salad

Last night was another “experimenting” with what is available kind of night. In my freezer I had frozen Trader Joe’s Mahi Mahi filets and a knob of ginger. In my refrigerator I have three bunches of asparagus. And on my counter I had a handful of “on the brink” basil and some “starting to shrivel” cherry tomatoes. I wanted to use that basil. I didn’t realize when I started that the tomatoes would really make this meal.

The Salad:

• 3 bunches of asparagus
• large handful of basil
• tablespoon  of pine nuts
• table spoon of good olive oil
• table spoon of balsamic glaze
• juice of one lemon
• salt/pepper
• 10 cherry tomatoes

The Fish:

• 2 small filets per person, so 8 small filets
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze
• salt/pepper

Knowing that my kitchen would turn into a madhouse at 530 when the kids came up to eat, I decided to roast the asparagus early and then reheat it at the end. I cleaned and broke the asparagus, lining it up on a pan as so:

I salted and peppered and oiled them up and placed them in a 425 degree oven on the top shelf.

While those cooked I marinated the fish. In a bowl I whisked the soy, honey, balsamic reduction, olive oil and ground ginger. In a Pyrex dish I poured the mixture then placed the fish, skin side down, covered and refrigerated until I was ready.

Next was the sauce for the salad. I knew I wanted to use the basil but wasn’t sure how. So, I thought, maybe a pesto of sorts? I chopped up a bit, added some pine nuts and a bit of olive oil and, using my immersion blender, puréed the ingredients. It tasted bitter so I added a bit of lemon. Better, but not quite right. Salt and pepper? Better still, but not 100%. Balsamic reduction?! Almost there! A few overripe cherry tomatoes?!! By Jove! It was delicious. But I needed more of this…so I did it again in a bigger bowl.

I had to stop myself from drinking this concoction. I could eat that every day.

When the asparagus were close to done, I removed them and set them aside until we were at the end.

While the kids ate, I toasted 1/3 cup of pine nuts and set them aside.

Fast forward an hour and the family was close to being ready to eat. I put the oven at 400 and, after turning the fish to coat twice, they went into the oven for 15-20 minutes. When I turned them halfway through the cooking, I put the asparagus back in the oven below the fish. I also quickly cooked up the pancetta, draining it on a paper towel. Remove the fish from the oven when it starts to flake and put the fish on a plate. Pour the marinade into the pan in which you just cooked the pancetta and cook the mixture down a bit. Add a tiny bit of arrow root if it needs thickening.
Put the asparagus, pine nuts, pancetta and sauce in a large bowl and mix. I’m not kidding when I tell you that you may have to hold yourself back from devouring the entire thing right then and there.

I maaaaaaay have eaten the leftover pine nuts and pancetta with a serving spoon, standing in the kitchen, right before going to bed. It was that good.

After plating the fish and salad, pour the reduced ginger glaze over the fish. Enjoy!