Last weekend, I had a friend over for dinner with the promise that I was going to make him fish and chips that tasted as good as takeout. Guess what? I succeeded! Not only did my meal taste delicious, it was healthy, too!
The fish had a flavourful crunchy outer layer with an essence of coconut that paired beautifully with the sweet potato fries and curry yogurt dip I concocted. This meal gets a 10/10 for flavour and health! Plus, I had fun creating the recipe and giving good old-fashioned fish and chips a healthy makeover.
A bit of a note on cooking oils:
After the saturated fat scare of the 80s, most restaurants switched to vegetable oils in an effort to offer a healthy alternative for deep frying. This was a completely unhealthy strategy since saturated fat, when eaten in small portions, is actually good for us. Take coconut oil for instance!
Vegetable oils, on the other hand, turn rancid when cooked at high temperatures which means anything cooked in them could harm our health. So for this delish dish, I ditched the vegetable oil and pan-seared the fish in organic coconut oil which is one of my favourite oils for cooking! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Mains & Sides
Healthy Fish and Chips
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp organic tamari sauce (wheat-free)
- 2 filets of white fish (sole, halibut, tilapia)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup spelt or brown rice flour
- 2-3 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Bring one cup of water to a boil with quinoa. Reduce to a simmer (low-temp) and cook with a lid for 12 to 15 minutes (or until the quinoa is done). Add tamari and set aside.
- Whisk egg in a bowl and dip fish filets in the egg. Sprinkle fish lightly in flour (this will help the quinoa stick). Then coat the fish with the quinoa.
- Heat pan to medium and melt the coconut oil. Place the quinoa-covered filets into the pan and sear each side for five to seven minutes. If the pan is hot enough, the quinoa will stick to the filet. It will form a crunchy layer.
If you want to make the rosemary sweet potato wedges and the curry yogurt dip, prepare them approximately one hour before the fish so they are finished around the same time and you can enjoy them together.
What's your favourite comfort food?
Thanks for posting this "Perfect 10" recipe. Sweet potato frites and curry dip "oh la la" as the french would say. This will definitely score a 20 at home. I have everything I need to make this delicious meal. A little too early to start making it now ~smile~ it's only 9:20 a.m.
ReplyExcellent! Let me know how you like it :)
Ooh I like the sound of coconut oil! I can't wait to try this recipe!
Reply[...] picture from joyoushealth.ca Joyous Health’s Fish & Chips. [...]
Reply[...] I said, she knows her stuff! I made Joy’s healthy fish and chips recipe last night, and it was the perfect Sunday meal. Yum! If you want to learn more follow Joy on [...]
ReplyI just took this recipe and used avocado instead of fish!!! One of the most delicious things I have had in a while!!
ReplyMy whole family loved your healthy version of fish & chips! Thank you!! They were truly better than take out! Yum!
ReplyHi Joy Can you please let me know where do you buy your fish or which frozen brands do you use? thanks for your healthy recipes.
ReplyHi there! I go to Hooked in Leslieville or Kensington Market. I also like St. Lawrence market and sometimes shop at Loblaws too.
Hey Joy! My Aunt recommended that I check out your site and I am for the first time now. She saw your cookbook and said that she thought of me. We eat very healthy aswell and I am write my first cookbook proposal. I love your site! I was just wondering is your Tamari organic? At our local health foods store the wheat free Tamari isn't organic but the regular kind is. So weird. Anyway can you let me know because I would love to get them to order organic wheat free stuff in! Thanks!
ReplyI'm pretty sure it is! But now that you are writing here I better check!
Hi, doesn’t look like all links on this page work.
ReplyHey Ruro, Thanks so much for flagging this! It looks like some links became broken when we launched our new site. We'll look into this and get it back up in working order shortly. Thanks :) Rachel - Joyous Health Team
I made this tonight for my family and it was amazing. I wasn't sure how it would work together, but it will defiantly be a constant in my home. Thank you for the recipe. Also made the sweet potato fries which were also amazing and the curry dip. I used non fat yogurt which not sure if that affects the taste much, but found the dip to overpower the fries a little but it wasn't bad with radishes. Again if i would of got a full fat maybe that would have been a smoother favor not sure. Might try it again not sure on the dip but thanks for what you do.
ReplyGlad you love this recipe! I haven't made it in ages, so your comment reminds me to make it again! The fat in the yogurt will definitely provide a more full flavour but next time if you want to use non-fat you could just add a lesser amount of curry powder.