Not only are Fish Tacos a great simple summer recipe, today Ivy Larson of HotandHealthyLiving.com explains her own steller fish recipe. 

Ivy Says: I love eating and making ethnic food, including Cuban recipes, which happen to be a fusion of Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisines. One of the reasons I get so excited about ethnic food is that many ethnic recipes tend to be healthy…and if they aren’t totally healthy as-is I can almost always figure out a way to health them up and give them a whole foods makeover without sacrificing taste.

Relying on fresh food, spices and good seasoning, many ethnic recipes manage to be very flavor-forward without being overly “heavy”, this dish being no exception. Not only does this slimming fish dish taste amazing, but it’s incredibly easy to make. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that the olive tapenade serves double-duty as a “leftover” flavoring agent the next day. The tapenade is super versatile and can add some zip to beans, lentils, sprouted whole grain toast, brown rice, etc. I made this dish last night for dinner and for lunch today I put the tapenade on top of frozen thawed chopped spinach (which I ate right along with the lentils you see in the photo). And, just in case you are wondering what the mysterious orange food in the photo is, it’s a super simple, very tasty no-cook raw carrot side dish. I make it by taking whole peeled carrots and placing them in my food processor; I then add some sundried tomatoes that are packed in extra virgin olive oil, a bit of sea salt and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I pulse the food processor to finely mince the carrots and presto, my side dish is done.

A quick word about the mahi mahi (I live in Florida so fresh Mahi Mahi is often readily available, but feel free to substitute halibut if you can’t find it); it has a mild flavor and firm texture that makes it especially appealing to cooks. However, you do sorta have to keep your eye on it. Its pinkish flesh turns gray-white when cooked and you want to remove it from the heat the minute the flesh is done, otherwise the mahi mahi has a tendency to quickly become dry.

And finally, don’t be afraid of the anchovy paste …it’s the secret ingredient! You can find anchovy paste in the supermarket right alongside the anchovies.

Oven-Roasted Mahi-Mahi with Olive Tapenade

Serves 4

Olive Tapenade:

3/4 cup Spanish green olives

3/4 cup Kalamata olives

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 teaspoon lime zest Juice from 1 whole lime

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 cup fresh parsley

Mahi-Mahi:

4 6-ounce mahi steaks

Sea salt, to taste

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

2 fresh limes, cut in half

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Season the mahi steaks on all sides with salt.

Add the oil to a large, heavy oven-proof skillet (such as cast-iron) and use a paper towel to wipe a thin layer of oil over entire bottom of the skillet. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the fish. Cook for 1 minute. Flip and cook for an additional minute. Squeeze lime juice on top of the fish. Transfer fish to the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until pink-flesh turns grey white. Top the fish with a spoonful of the tapenade and serve.

**Ivy Larson became interested in following a whole foods diet after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998. She is the author of the Amazon.com #1 best-selling health and wellness book, The Gold Coast Cure, the follow-up Gold Coast Cure’s Fitter, Firmer, Faster Program and the recently launched Whole Foods Diet Cookbook. She has a fourth cookbook scheduled for release next year. Ivy currently runs the HotandHealthyLiving website.

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