As I don’t eat meat often, I try to eat fish once a week. Whether you eat meat or are vegan or vegetarian, it’s very important to be aware of your protein intake, especially if you train regularly. While it’s perfectly possible to get enough protein on a vegan diet, you have to be much more aware of it and put in more effort. It won’t happen by accident! That said, fish is a great clean source of protein for those of us who are not vegan.
Kingklip is a deep sea fish widely found in the coastal waters of southern Africa. It is low in fat and as well as being high in protein, also contains calcium, iodine and iron. If you cannot get kingklip you can use another solid white fish for this recipe.
Canihua is a close relative of quinoa and is native to the Andes. It is gluten-free and scores higher than quinoa in levels of protein, iron, magnesium and calcium. It has a similar flavour to quinoa, but the grains are much smaller.
Ingredients (serves 2)
150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
150g shimeji mushrooms, separated
6 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil for frying
2 big handfuls spinach, sliced into ribbons
2 tbsp organic tamari
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp raw sesame seeds
1/2 cup canihua (or quinoa)
400g fresh kingklip (2 fillets), skinned
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Place the canihua in a small pot with 1 cup of water and 1/4 tsp himalayan salt. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and cover with a lid. Simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the grains are cooked, about 20 – 25 minutes.
Slowly fry the mushrooms in some olive oil until they start to brown. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir. Add the tamari and lemon juice and quickly put the lid on so that the steam will cook the spinach. After a couple of minutes remove from the heat. Add the honey, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and place the kingklip down. Fry until golden and crispy then turn and do the same on the other side. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast for about 5 – 7 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. The flesh should be opaque and starting to flake, but not dry.
To plate, put the canihua on the bottom, then the mushrooms and spinach, and top with the fish. Squeeze some lemon over the top and enjoy.
Health & happiness!
Love,
Raine
