Hot Tuna Stuffed Peppers–Last week’s #FridayFish

…and could serve not only as a Friday night company meal, but might easily be thrown together during the week any time of the year.

Got kids?? A learn-n-cook night might find kids in charge of making the rice (if need be), a taller person grilling the fish (inside or outside), and someone with a little knife skill to make the salsa.  I give instructions for making much of this from scratch, but it’s definitely the kind of meal that lends itself to leftovers like take-out rice, yesterday’s asparagus or green beans, and what have you.

I first made and blogged this for my dinnerplace.blogspot.com blog, which I no longer keep up, but is a fun place to look for meals for one or two.  As you might have a larger group, I’ve doubled the recipe for you.  Here’s the original note at the beginning of the recipe:

 Yesterday, though, I remembered there was cold rice and some cryovac frozen  swordfish ($8.50 for two pieces at Whole Foods) that needed to be used.  On the way home from a restaurant lunch, I stopped and picked up a pound of asparagus, mango, jalapeno, ginger, and cilantro.  I’d make a salsa and grill the fish while sauteing the asparagus with an onion and mixing it with the cold rice. While sort of a no-brainer recipe-wise, it happened to be something I hadn’t done in a long time.  Any sturdy fish would do, and while I know there are a lot of salmon and mango salsa recipes out there, I think white fish or even tuna shows off the fresh salsa to its best advantage.  Here’s how:

Swordfish with Asparagus Rice and Mango Salsa

4 servings

Want this sans rice?  Just sauté double the amount of asparagus or switch to a bed of sautéed spinach topped with the asparagus.

No time? You can simplify:  Make easy or microwave rice if you have none left from the Chinese restaurant. Buy a container of good-quality chunky guacamole and use that instead of making the mango salsa. I’ll recommend you cook some fresh asparagus or green beans no matter what.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 swordfish steaks, 6-8 ounces each
• Canola or other neutral oil
• Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper 
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small onion, small dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• Mango salsa, see below for ingredients/recipe
• 1 lime, sliced in half
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

Mango salsa ingredients:

• 2 peeled, seeded, and chopped ripe mango
• 2 tablespoon each red onion and jalapeño pepper, minced
• 1 cup chopped, peeled cucumber (Don’t peel English cucumbers.)
• 1/2 each chopped red pepper and chopped fresh cilantro
• Generous pinch crushed red pepper
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:                  

1. If the fish is frozen:  Remove fish from cryovac plastic and place in a gallon resealable bag, then in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes.  In the meantime…

2. Make the MANGO SALSA:   Mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside until fish is cooked.

3. Cook the asparagus and stir in the rice:  In a large, deep skillet or sauté pan, sauté the asparagus in 2 tablespoons of  canola oil with the onion, garlic and ginger over medium flame; season with salt and pepper and cook until done– perhaps 3-4 minutes.  When tender, stir in the cooked rice and continue to cook until the rice is hot. If too dry, stir in 2 tablespoons water.  Keep asparagus-rice mixture warm while you grill fish or do both at the same time to save a few minutes.

4. Grill fish: Heat a grill pan or heavy skillet on the stovetop or heat the outdoor gas grill to medium-high heat. Drizzle the fish well with canola oil on both sides; season it evenly with salt and pepper.  Place fish on the grill and let cook 3-4 minutes or until very brown grill marks show; turn and cook until fish is barely done–nearly opaque, but juicy.  (Perhaps another 2 minutes depending on the size of the fillets.)  Leave skin on to cook, but remove to eat.

5. Serve: Divide the asparagus-rice mixture between four warm plates and top each with a piece of fish. Garnish with the mango salsa. Drizzle all with lime juice and top with toasted almonds.

Read about swordfish here. 

Sing a new song,

Alyce