I used to feel this way. I hated eating fish, I found it... fishy.
Nothing about it appealed to me, ever. First of all, fish are weird. They stare at you with those eyes, they wriggle through the water and flit about at the slightest disturbance. Secondly, as I mentioned before, I do not enjoy being in the water that they are also in, irrational? Totally. Third, they are best kept behind glass where I can admire their (often creepy) beauty.
I didn't start eating fish until one fateful day in Denver Colorado. I know what you are thinking, why the hell would I eat fish in Denver!? It is a land locked state for crying out loud! Also, it is worth mentioning that not only did I eat (and LIKE) fish, but this fish was in the form of sushi, this fish was RAW! I KNOW. In my defense, it is rumored that this particular sushi joint (which is indeed AMAZING) trucks in their fish daily (plus number 1). Also it is rumored that they truck the fish in alive... with their natural predators in the same tank, so that they are worked out and fresh (to death).
Fast forward five years to the present. I still don't love fish, but I am learning to really enjoy it. Having salmon every day for breakfast in Tokyo was particularly amazing and the sushi there is so good you might want to cry. Given this fact I have been adventurous when I eat out and I have started ordering fish entrees which often surprises me. And do you know something? Nine times out of ten, I love it!
One such dish is this crazy good salad from a restaurant in beautiful Venice Beach called Gjelina. This salad was so good, so different and so oddly satisfying I left the restaurant convinced I needed to recreate it... and so I did.
-SMOKED TROUT CITRUS SALAD-
What you will need for two lunch sized salads or four appetizers:
A large bowl full of arugula (rinsed and dried)
2 fillets of smoked trout
1 large avocado (2 if you are like me)
2 blood oranges
1 grapefruit
1 small red onion
1 lemon
olive oil
sea salt
Peel the rind off your citrus and pull apart into wedges (excluding the lemon). Dice your red onion and avocado. Cut (or pull apart) the trout into bite sized pieces.
Place your arugula onto a place, garnish with the blood orange, grapefruit, onion (to taste), 1/2 of an avocado and smoked trout. Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.
... I know what you are thinking, there is no way this salad is that good... but I promise you, it totally IS.
Fish and I are learning to get along. I mean... I make and eat ceviche now, which means I'm practically a fish myself (ok that is stretching it, but you get it).
What is your favorite way to eat fish? Do share in the comments below.
xx
