Prevention RD's Halibut with Cold Cucumber Salad

A little over five years ago I started reading a blog written by a dietitian named Nicole. Nicole's blog always made me laugh (sometimes out loud, literally).  I always learned something new when I read her blog and she's one of those bloggers I always had a secret desire to actually meet (like a celebrity!). One day I learned that she and her husband would be moving to Columbus.  I about died!  For two wonderful years my husband and I were able to get to know Nicole (ie: Prevention RD) and her husband Mark (ie: Mr. Prevention) and while they no longer live here (so sad) I'm proud to say we still have a special part of them in our kitchen.......

If you haven't ordered Nicole's cookbook yet, what in the world are you waiting for?!  The price is right, at just over fifteen dollars, and the plethora of sinfully healthy recipes that you get in exchange are worth every penny.  Go ahead, buy it.  I'm waiting.

I have already marked/tabbed about fifteen pages, and counting, of recipes I plan on making eventually.  But the first one I chose was the Halibut with Cold Cucumber Salad. After all, it's the perfect "Summer is coming to an end, so I should take advantage of all summer has to offer before it's too late" recipe!

I think everyone who writes and/or blogs about food aspires to be as good at making food look as irresistible as Nicole does.  I thought about just using her photo, along, on this blog post, and not sharing my own.  But, while Nicole definitely has a true talent for food photography, I don't think I lag too far behind (please hold your comments to yourself!).

Close? 

Well as you can see I took out the red onions and used chives instead, just to make this FODMAPs-friendly.  But of course you can use red onions, as the original recipe suggests.  And if you're not willing to spend $25/lb. on your fish (yes, halibut is not cheap, but oh my gosh it's worth every penny. It literally melts in your mouth) you could use cod or tilapia I'm sure.  This cold cucumber salad would go with just about any light/mild fish.

Halibut with Cold Cucumber Salad

Source: Prevention RDs Everyday Healthy Cooking

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 (5 oz.) halibut fillets

1/4 tsp. salt and pepper, divided

1 cucumber, seeded and diced (I used English cucumber)

1 Roma tomato, seeded and diced (I used one of the thousands of Romas from our garden)

3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped **

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Arrange halibut on the baking sheet, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake 10-12 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, combine cucumber, tomato, onion, vinegar and oil in a small bowl.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3.  Serve halibut hot with cucumber salad over top.

**NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPS diet omit the red onion and replace with chives.  Also, add more onion/garlic flavor by using a Tuscan or garlic olive oil, if you wish.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1 serving
Source: CalorieCount.com
NOTE:  These are slightly different from the facts in Nicole's book.  But overall, very similar. I'm sure we used a different program, or perhaps entered different products into our analysis. 

Nutrition Highlights:  Excellent source of iron and vitamin C.  Also, this recipe provides ~2.2 grams of EPA/DHA, per serving (form the halibut, of course).

Nick and I pretended like we were at dinner with Mark and Nicole as we ate this amazing meal (haha, jk, we aren't that strange, but that would have been nice!).  We enjoyed every morsel and are both looking forward to many more Prevention-inspired recipes.

QUESTION:  What's the last cookbook you purchased?  Have you used it at all?  I'll be honest, I rarely use cookbooks anymore, but Nicole's? You better believe it's my new food bible.

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd