BB APPROVED RECIPE

kiwi_and_bean_trout_with_beans

Hello Mommies! I am Sarah: Belly-Bootcamper, mom, wife, working lawyer and food nut. In between mothering, lawyering, exercising (and wifeing?), I write a food blog (Cooking for) Kiwi & Bean, where I share my adventures in feeding my hungry family.

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I mostly write the blog as an outlet for my bordering-on-unhealthy obsession with food and cooking. But I also hope that by telling my kitchen stories–good, bad and ugly–I might inspire families to fit wholesome, real, simple and yummy food into the nooks and crannies of their busy lives. I’m so excited that Belly Bootcamp has invited me here to share some of my best family-feeding recipes, tips and tricks!

Seeing as we are amongst moms here, I should make one important point: I don’t make kid food. No siree. But I don’t make adult food, either. Not really. My M.O. is family food–food that is easy to prepare and kid-friendly, but also sophisticated enough to wash down with a glass of pinot grigio. Or noir. Pick your poison, moms!

You won’t find calorie or fat counts, or Dr. Bernstein diet program endorsements for any of my recipes. That doesn’t mean they aren’t healthful; it just means I spent enough of my young adulthood obsessed with calories and fat to know that it does not a healthy woman (or well-adjusted child, or sane husband) make. For me, the path to “health” is paved with a lot of *real* wholesome food, balanced and tasty meals, the occasional double chocolate cupcake, and a family that is engaged and excited about the process of creating and eating food together. (And a lot of Belly Bootcamping, of course.)

Idealistic? Maybe. But that’s my bullseye, my end game, my pie in the sky…you get the idea.

We all know we should be eating more fish–with its heart- and brain-healthy fat goodness–but warnings about mercury and environmental disaster make it tough to know which fish to pick. Farmed trout is a great option: full of the good fish fats, low in mercury and other environmental contaminants, sustainable enough, and (most importantly, who are we kidding) super tender and tasty!! This recipe is all cooked in the same skillet — simple and quick enough for a rushed weekday meal, but beautiful and impressive enough to serve to a couple of dinner guests. This trout recipe is a go-to around our house, and I’m betting it will soon become a menu fixture in yours too.

Quick Green Bean & Almond Trout

KiwiAndBeanTroutWithBeans

adapted from Dinner: A Love Story, the blog

Serves 3-4

• 1 or 2 filets of farmed trout (3/4 to 1 pound)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (**)
• Pile of green beans, ends trimmed
• ½ cup sliced almonds (or whole almonds, roughly chopped)
• Juice of half a lemon
• ½ cup chicken broth or white wine
• 1 tablespoon butter

1. Heat cooking oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sprinkle trout filet(s) generously with salt and pepper. 2. When oil is shimmering, add trout to skillet, skin side down. Cook for a few minutes, or until skin starts to crisp up, then flip the trout and continue cooking another few minutes, or until the trout is almost cooked through. 3. Transfer trout to a large plate or platter. Don’t worry if a bit of skin or flesh remains stuck to the skillet. 4. Add green beans to the pan and toss them around in the oil until tender crisp. 5. Put cooked beans on top of the trout. 6. Add almonds to the pan and cook for a minute or so, until they start to brown up a bit, then put them onto the beans. 7. Add lemon, broth (or wine) and butter to the pan and stir until butter is melted and the liquid starts to boil a bit. 8. Pour liquid over trout/beans/almonds, and serve.

**Note: the original recipe called for olive oil, which is not ideal for high heat cooking like this. I prefer to use a deodorized virgin coconut oil, butter, or a healthy-ish cooking oil designed for high-heat cooking.