I need more low-fat meat options. Fish is good for you and low-fat, but it scares me. I have never cooked fish other than fish sticks. Not once in 33 years. I think I have a mental block. I didn't like fish as a child and my mom constantly tried to get me to eat it, mainly by putting ketchup on it. You'd refuse to eat salmon with ketchup on it too, trust me.

I'm a pretty good cook, but all of my cookbooks say to 1. grill it and/or 2. drown it in fatty things. I don't have a grill so that's out and as much as I love things covered in butter, it kinda defeats the point.

As an adult I've learned I do like halibut, salmon sometimes, cod, and mahi mahi.

So I guess my questions are:

1: How do you buy it? I mean, what do you look for to know if it's a good piece of fish? I know what I look for in other meats but fish just looks like fish to me.

2: What are some yummy ways to prepare it that are healthy and don't involve a grill? And so it doesn't taste too, ya'know, fishy.?

I do fish parcels, I wrap them in parchment paper and bake them on an oven tray, very low fat and you can do any flavour profile you like. I usually do salt, pepper, lemon juice and a salt free spice mix like Mrs Dash.

Lots of fish are good eating fish, Salmon and Snapper are my favourites but almost everything is good baked in a parcel. Basa and Talapia are good and fairly well priced to.

The most important thing is to not over cook fish, it will get dry and stringy and be awful. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes max for a fillet.

I like baked tillapia or sole with various seasonings. A little olive oil in the baking dish, season, bake for 10 - 15 mins. Lemon, cajun, powdered barbque, whatever seasonings work.

I was never a big fan of fish, until my husband introduced me to good fresh fish, and taught me how to buy and cook it.

Firstly, if you buy fresh fish, it really shouldn't smell "fishy." No trace of ammonia smell at all.

Since we live so far from the coast, almost all the fish (even in the fresh fish case) has been frozen - so buying frozen makes more sense.

I like tilapia and other mild flavored fish. I like salmon the way my hubby prepares it, but I'm not so good at it, so I stick to mild fish.

One of the easiest low fat ways to cook fish is to steam or poach it in the microwave or in a skillet.

I take the fish fillet (frozen is fine) and put it in a shallow bowl or a plate that has enough curvature to keep in a few tablespoons of liquid (water, light wine or vegetable broth), and any fat I want, if any (I shave off a thin slice of butter, less than a teaspoon and set it on the fish - this is optional). Then I sprinkle the fish with a little seasoning. My favorite is Lawry's seasoned salt or a bit of dry ranch dressing powder (like from the Hidden Valley ranch packet) or lemon pepper seasoning - or even just a little garlic powder.

Then I cover the fish with plastic wrap and microwave until the fish is opaque and flaky (if it's underdone it won't flake nicely and the flesh will be translucent). I usually start with one minute for fresh fish and two minutes for frozen (microwaves vary and fish cooks fast, so I always start checking before I think it's going to be done and then keep cooking at 20 second intervals until it's done. Even frozen, the fish cooks really fast.

On the stove top, I put the fillet in the skillet, add a few tablespoons of liquid (a little more than I would in the microwave, but not enough to cover the fish, unless I want it poached. Poached is good though, so starting with poaching can be good, because more liquid helps prevent burning. I add the same types of seasoning I would for microwaving, and I cook just until it's flaky (I check the thickest part of the fish to make sure it's done).

Poaching (adding enough liquid to cover the fish) and simmering until the fish is done is a good way to start cooking fish, because it's a little more foolproof.

Learning to cook without overcooking was a bit of a challenge for me, because fish cooks so fast that it can dry out easily. I think that's why I didn't like my mom's baked fish - she usually overcooked it.

I like fish cooked in butter (not drowned in butter), so I will save my fat exchanges to use in cooking fish when I make it.

I'll melt some butter or add some oil to a pan (a teaspoon or two) and will add the fish. Low to medium heat works well. When I see the bottom of the fish turning white/opaque then I will flip the fish and add a sprinkle of seasoning - any of the ones mentioned above, or really just about any seasoning I like. (Even a sprinkle of italian or taco seasoning is good).

When the fish is opaque and flaky, it's done.

I HATED fish all my life! I'm learning it is quite tasty. My fav so far is to take a tapilia filet and some nice flash frozen stir fry veggies. I pull our a line of tin foil and put them in it along with some garlic and the mojo citrus marinade (Safeway line of marinades, very low cal and low sodium, and no sugars). I fold the sides and form a "pocket" and toss it in the oven and it self steams and is soooooo delish! It won't make the kitchen smell like fish and the steamed marinade infuses the flavor great in the fish. Best of all NO dishes!

Well, we catch hundreds of pounds of salmon a year I have to make kid-friendly and healthy. It's not hard, I broil a thawed filet at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until the thickest part of the filet is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. I season it with lemon, garlic salt, onion powder, dill, and a little pepper blend (I use Tony Chacheres, but paprika or red pepper works just fine in its' place). I do often serve sauces with this, but it doesn't need it. Healthy, lean, and moist. You can serve almost any fish (halibut, tilapia, trout, snapper, rockfish, etc etc) like this and have it taste pretty darn good. A little salt, pepper, an acid, and a few herbs are a winning combo. No need to braise it in a ton of butter.

Honey mustard and horseradish dill sauces go well with this method, but again, they are unnecessary. I generally add about 50 calories worth of a sauce (half a tbs) to 6 oz of fish for myself, to get the flavor without the fat. For this reason, I make all sauces separately, so I can serve myself less and my family more, if they want it. It gives me a lot of options for leftovers, too, to have fairly plain fish to add to salads or noodle dishes, and save the sauces for salad dressings.

Another good fish prep is a panko or cornflake breading. Paprika, parsley, seasoned salt, garlic, dill, onion, a little cumin, mixed in with the crumbs, then dredge it in a little egg wash and fry in a dry skillet or bake as above? Crispy, tasty, low calorie prep.

A little creativity with seasonings goes such a long way. Hollandaise is all well and good, but many fish is complimented well by simpler preps and you're not missing out on the fat.

I'll second the parcel method, "en papillote." Today I had it for dinner in fact... A few small fillets of sole (frozen), a few tablespoons of finely chopped parsley, two whole cloves of garlic (left whole), about half a lemon's worth of zest, a small splash of wine (maybe 2 oz) and salt and pepper. Make sure to wrap the parchment or aluminum foil very snugly because you want the steam and juices to stay in the package. I put it in the oven for 10 mins at 450, and it was delish. Plus, you have a sauce made too which I had over some quinoa. Don't fear the fish!

I am a fish purist, a little pepper, salt, slices of lemon and shallots, a drizel of white wine , wrap in foil and bake or BBQ until juuuuust flaking. I do salmon and halibut this way and serve with a Greek Tzatziki sauce that I make myself with 0% fage, lemon juice, dill, garlic and cucumber.

My favourite way to do salmon is to either pan fry it in a tsp of olive oil with lots of lemon juice and herbs, or the following glaze, amounts are for one filet:
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Mix it all together, spread it on your filet (frozen or fresh, no matter), bake salmon as normal. Yum.

Thank for the ideas everyone!

I actually feel more confident about cooking fish after reading everyone's suggestions here than I have from reading tons of cookbooks.

We bought some tilapia at Trader Joe's tonight, so I'm going to try it tomorrow. I'm going to try it baked in the packet. I'm going to do green beans and sweet Maya onions with garlic for the veggie. For fish I'm debating between lime and chili powder or lemon and french herbs. I guess will see when the moment arrives.

I'm also not a big fan of fish, but some of these sound pretty good! I'll have to try it!

where are you at in alaska??

This thread is the most exciting thing I've ever stumbled upon! lol, I really thought I was the only person who was afraid of and/or hated fish! So glad to find out that I'm not the only one

I like fish a lot, but I haven't been terribly successful cooking it. I'm always afraid I'll undercook it and then I end up overcooking it. I'm looking forward to trying all these tasty and doable sounding recipes. Thanks all!

If you want low fat meat options have you thought about game? Deer, bison, ostrich...