All this recent sunshine, even if still on the cool side, is making me think of summer recipes. Here's a recipe I've done in many different cooking conditions - in the winter I've done it in the oven, but more often I cook it on the BBQ in the warmer months. I've even done it on an open fire when camping. It's easy to prepare, cook and serve and it is delicious.

Adding fish to the diet is always a good idea, (although being on guard for species that have high mercury levels is a necessary precaution these days. This recipe uses rainbow trout, a fresh water fish, less likely to contain heavy metals). Yesterday I wrote about a study done in Sweden that found that 15-year-old boys who ate fish more than twice a week did 11% better on intelligence tests than those who ate fish less often. Smarten up! Eat your fish!

Recipe for Fish and Fennel in Foil after the jump.


Fish With Fennel in Foil

1 whole rainbow trout, or 2 fillets separated from the bone
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges (you can use the stem here too, cut into bite sized chunks)
a handful of fresh dill
1 Tbsp. or so of organic butter
unrefined sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Take a large piece of tinfoil (big enough to wrap around the fish and its contents without needing a second piece). Place a few of the lemon slices, some of the fennel and a few dabs of butter on the foil. Season with unrefined sea salt and pepper.

Lay the fish on top of the lemon and fennel. Put the remaining lemon slices and fennel pieces on top (you can place the fennel around the fish too, if you need more room). Add a few more dabs of butter and season again with unrefined sea salt and pepper.

Wrap up the whole concoction, making sure you're not leaving gaps that will leak. Now add it to your preferred hot place (oven, BBQ, campfire). The oven it should be at about 350F, BBQ should be on medium high and a campfire... well, just put it in a hot spot.

Cooking times are always tricky to gauge, but I've found this takes about 20-25 minutes in the oven, less on the BBQ and on a campfire it varies (it took 15 minutes once, but over half an hour another time). You want to to flip the foil package about half way through cooking, so I'd do it at around the 12 minute mark (you can always carefully open the foil to check on how it's doing).

When done, be careful removing from the heat - a tear in the foil will drip hot fish juice everywhere and can scald. Also be careful when opening the foil - the steam will be HOT! If you used a whole fish, slice filets and slide them right on the bones. Serve the fennel and lemon on the side. Goes great with a brown rice or quinoa pilaf.


The Healthy Foodie is Doug DiPasquale, Holistic Nutritionist and trained chef, living in Toronto. You can email him with questions at dugdeep@gmail.com.