Homemade Whole-Grain Crusted Baked Fish Sticks with Herb Dipping Sauce

Serves 4

Recipe from Everyday Food

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Once you’ve made these homemade fish sticks, you will never again consider eating frozen fish sticks in the box.  These are great and deserve to be in your regular meal rotation.  To make these even more healthful, use whole-wheat Panko crumbs and replace the mayo with non-fat plain Greek yogurt. 

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups whole-wheat Panko crumbs or whole-grain bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning or other favorite seasoning

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ pounds tilapia or cod fillets

½ cup light mayonnaise or  non-fat plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons prepared white horseradish
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

Preheat oven to 475, with racks in top and bottom third. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil; set aside.

To make fish sticks, cut fillets in half lengthwise and then again crosswise.

Place egg in a wide shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine panko, Old Bay, and oil. Dip tilapia into egg, shaking off excess, then into panko mixture, pressing to adhere. Place on prepared baking sheets.

Bake until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, parsley, mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish; season with salt and pepper. Serve fish sticks with sauce and lemon wedges on the side.

Homemade Fish Sticks & Herb Dipping Sauce with
mashed sweet potato & sauteed snow peas and peppers

Salmon Burgers with Yogurt-Dill Sauce

Recipe from Everyday Food

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

It was the last night with family visitors and they had a long flight ahead of them.  So, I made a yummy healthful meal to eat out on the porch before they left.  I served these salmon burgers with local lettuce mix drizzled with Alice’s A+ Vinaigrette, brown basmati rice and 

Panko-Parmesan Summer Squash.  We had Whole Wheat BananaChip Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies for dessert.  All the ingredients can be found at Lost River Market & Deli.

Ingredients

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, finely diced**

1 Tablespoon prepared white horseradish

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest, plus 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 scallions, thinly sliced (or shallot)

2 Tablespoons plain dried breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat.)

Coarse salt and ground pepper

½ cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used non-fat plain Greek yogurt.)

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill

Directions

Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat.

In a medium bowl, combine salmon, horseradish, lemon zest and juice, egg, scallions, breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; mix gently with a fork. (I put the ingredients in a food processor and pulsed a few times.  Do not over-process.  It’s best to have a few small chunks of salmon in the mix.)

Form salmon mixture into four 3½ -by-1-inch patties (I was able to make 6 patties) place on a rimmed baking sheet.

Broil without turning until browned on top and opaque throughout, 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine yogurt and dill in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. (I squeezed in a bit of fresh lemon juice.) Serve burgers with yogurt-dill sauce and lettuce.

**Note:  To finely dice salmon without crushing it, start by thinly slicing the fillet with a sharp knife. Cut the slices lengthwise into strips, then crosswise.

These salmon burgers were quite tasty the next day.  I served it along side scrambled eggs for breakfast with fresh fruit and whole-wheat toast.  Yummy!

Apple, Horseradish Turkey Burgers

Recipe from Good Housekeeping Magazine

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

These turkey burgers are filled with apples, onions, horseradish and fresh herbs.  Serve these topped with your favorite mustard or chutney, a tomato, and fresh spinach.  I like them topped with shredded daikon radish.  Sauté some broccoli with a little garlic and some peppers and maybe make some brown rice to round out the meal for a healthy lunch.  (I imagine you could add other shredded veggies as well to the burgers, such as carrots or zucchini.)

1 pound ground turkey

2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish

1 apple, peeled and grated

½ onion, grated or minced

¾ teaspoon Kosher salt

2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley or 1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage

Preheat broiler.  In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients well.  Shape the turkey mixture into 1-inch thick patties.  (I was able to make 6.) Spray rack in a broiling pan with nonstick cooking spray; place patties on the rack.  With broiling pan at closest position to source of heat, broil patties 4 minutes.  Turn patties; broil 5 to 6 minutes longer or until cooked through.

Nutritional information per burger:  about 260 calories; 6 grams fat; 59 mg. cholesterol; 860 mg. sodium

Sweet Potato Hash with Prosciutto and Fried Eggs

Recipe from Epicurious 

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

Serves 4

  

With a mixture of sweet potatoes, onions, Dijon, horseradish, a bit of ham and greens, and topped off with eggs, you've got one heck of a brunch dish good enough for company.  You can even prep the ingredients in advance the night before work and make it for breakfast while your coffee is percolating. I've made this a couple of times, once with watercress and again with baby spinach.  The original recipe called for ham, but I used prosciutto ham because I always keep that in the fridge.  I really like the runny egg yolks, but if you don't wish to serve your eggs like that, you can certainly scramble the eggs and then put them on the top.

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4 tablespoons olive oil, divided


2 1/2 cups 1/3-inch cubes peeled red-skinned sweet potato (yam)



2 cups 1/2-inch cubes ham (I used one package of prosciutto ham, which was about 6 slices.  I just roughly chopped the prosciutto.)



1 large white onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)



1/4 cup Dijon mustard with horseradish (I used a little less than 1/4 cup of Dijon mustard and added a heaping Tablespoon of horseradish to it.)



2 cups baby spinach or coarsely chopped watercress tops 



Kosher salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste



4 large eggs






Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add yam cubes; cover and cook 5 minutes. Mix in ham, onion, and mustard. Cover and cook until yam is tender and bottom of hash begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using spatula, turn hash over in portions and press to compact. Cook uncovered until golden, turning and pressing occasionally, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in chopped watercress (or spinach) until wilted, about 1 minute.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in another large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Crack eggs into skillet and cook until whites are firm but yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes. 
Divide the hash among 4 plates. Top with eggs.