Healthy Fish and Sweet Potato Grits
Can there be such a thing as healthy fish and grits or is this an oxymoron?
Healthy is a loose term to be sure. In Southern circles grits aren’t grits if they don’t have a big hunk of butter and cheese. Healthy to some people means to cut out all the fat, going from 60 to 0 and maybe even cutting out the salt.
In Spinach Tiger circles healthy is good old fashioned food, fresh ingredients, and nutrition sensibility. It doesn’t mean low calorie; it means lower calorie, which in today’s world of overeating, equates to the right amount of calories to sustain a reasonable weight, kicking out the extremes of feast and famine mentality. It also means not using artificial ingredients and chemicals which abound in many “diet” foods.
My inspiration for this dish comes from the Southern Oyster & Steak Restaurant I posted about here. When I love a dish, I try to figure it out, and make it more suitable for home cooking and everyday eating.
Restaurants tend to put a lot more fat into food than we would at home. Where they use a stick of butter, I’ll use a tablespoon, opting for the trimmer, lighter fare that I can control, but I wouldn’t dream of using margarine or butter substitutes or trying to make food that has no fat.
No fat, no flavor, and deprivation leads to overeating.
This is the lighter, scaled down version of Southern comfort food, the kind of dish that you can work out hard for an hour and come home to, and feel like you are eating real food that satisfies and nourishes.
I used red snapper as my fish of choice, but you could use whatever you want. Halibut was in the original inspired dish, but tilapia or even flounder would work as well. The key is to slim down the grits, add in the sweet potatoes which are a filling, yet good complex carbohydrate and top with a buttery fish that wasn’t cooked in butter, but flavored with high impact.
I didn’t use any tasso or sausage in this version, but I’m sure there will come a day when I will make a dinner party version, pumped up with the traditional fat trinity, pork, butter and cream. In the meantime, enjoy a balanced, lighter, taste of the South.
- 1⅓ pound red snapper, boned with skin on, cut into 4 serving pieces.
- olive oil, coconut oil or avocado oil
- cajun spice such as Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- 2 cups sliced red cabbage
- 1 small onion sliced
- salt and pepper
- Sweet Potato Grits
- 3 tablespoons grated cheddar or gouda cheese (optional).
- Heat heavy bottom frying pan with olive oil or coconut oil.
- Rub fish on both sides with cajun spices
- Heat pan to medium heat. Place fish in hot pan.
- Cook for 2-4 minutes skin side down, until skin is crispy and fish easily moves. Turn over, cook for 2-4 more minutes.
- In another pan, saute onion and cabbage until wilted about 6 minutes.
- Add in salt and pepper to cabbage.
- Make sweet potato grits
- adding in gouda cheese as option during cooking time.
- Arrange fish on top of grits garnished with red cabbage.
Serve the snapper over these sweet potato grits.
Beautiful and complete meal, Angela. I love the healthfulness and lightness of it. This is the essence of fine cooking – thank you for sharing the recipe!
I have known “health nuts” who take all the joy out of eating. I want to eat healthy, and at the same time, enjoy food, truly one of the great pleasures of life. Mrs. ST has taught me that the two are not mutually exclusive. I love the way we eat and and I am healthier than I have ever been because of it. We all have to eat to live, so it should be something enjoyable. It isn’t much harder to make delicious and healthy food than it is to make junk, and well worth the effort. So, I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you to ST for making every day a feast in every way. I’m living proof that her tag line is true!
Oh my Angela, that second photo is so dreamy!
And I really enjoyed what you wrote about cooking with moderation, but still indulging in butter. If we all ate the way you do, our country would be full of good health.
xo
E
Thanks, Erin,
I think so. My husband and I stay fairly healthy and we do think it’s because of the way we eat and we enjoy our food.
Oh yum. That fish looks perfect.
I agree with your way if thinking. Lovely dish and your pictures are perfect.
Love (and agree with) your kitchen philosophy. Very well-stated and it makes lots of sense!
A lovely healthy dish, the sweet potato grits sounds wonderful!
A scrumptious dish and lovely pairing!
Cheers,
Rosa
Terrific dish Angela! Totally agree with your cooking style.
Love the photos, great colors…
LL