Unsurprisingly, cooking this much food so frequently has had a slightly negative impact on the ol' waist line. There's only so much cake a person can eat before it's kinda noticeable, especially when they spend all day sat around reading like I do.. Ahh the perks of an English degree.
Anyhoo, my poor exercise habits aside, me and Mum have been doing the 5:2 fasting diet for a while now and it's absolutely brilliant. 5 days a week you eat perfectly normally, and then on the two (non-consecutive) 'fast days' you only have 500 calories. This may sound hard, but with recipes like this it really isn't as bad as it sounds - most liquids don't count, and if you eat the right food for your 500 you don't even feel hungry! I've lost at least a pound every fast day and getting to eat normally the rest of the time is perfect for fitting in all the recipes I want to try out, without ending up completely round! These healthy fish goujons (or fish-fingers to us regular people..) are one of the more successful experiments. For anyone wanting to try them out without fasting, you can just add in extras like potato salad or wedges - that's how we appease my dad! Give that man carbohydrates and he's a happy bunny!
I think fish fingers get a bad reputation because of the many varieties that have about as much real fish in them as a doorstop, but believe me when I say that these ones are healthy, speedy and really really tasty. Plus, coming in at only 181 calories each, it's pretty hard to go wrong!
So, here goes...
Ingredients
Fish Goujons
1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten
80g breadcrumbs (I used brown, but you can use white if you want)
½ teaspoon dried mixed herbs
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
400g of white fish cut into strips (cod, haddock, pollack, etc. - I used smoke haddock and it was phenomenal)
Potato Salad *not included in calorie content of 5:2 meal*
2-4 potatoes per person serving
Mayonnaise - for a four person serving we'd use about 2 tablespoons, but it depends what you like in a salad (it's also up to you whether you feel like using light or regular mayo, obviously the regular will have more calories, but if you're just doing this for a regular meal it won't matter!)
Fresh coriander
Fresh chives
Method
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (220 if you're not using a fan oven)
- Lightly cover a baking tray in oil to make sure your goujons don't stick
- Pour the beaten egg into a wide flat bowl (the flatter it is, the easier you'll find it to coat the fish)
- Put all of the breadcrumbs on a plate and combine with lemon zest, salt, pepper and mixed herbs
- Get a portion of your fish and shape it to be vaguely goujon-like (I went for the fool-proof rough rectangle)
*Little tip - I flake the fish slightly by removing the skin,
it makes it slightly harder to cover the goujons,
but I think the finished product is nicer without skin inside*
- Dip each of the goujons in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, ensuring that they're fully coated.
- Place each one on the baking tray and lightly drizzle with more oil
- Once all of the goujons are covered and on the tray, pop them into the oven and let them cook for 15-18 minutes. You want to give them long enough so that they're a lovely golden brown, but not so long that the fish starts to dry out (nothin' worse than a fry goujon).
For the potato salad
- Boil your potatoes in water with a pinch of salt until they're cooked through and you can pierce them easily with a knife or fork
- Remove from the heat, drain and leave to cool
- Combine with the mayo (I use 2 tablespoons as a base line, but it's really personal preference as to how mayo-y you fancy them!)
- Add some fresh chives if you want a little extra twist, you just need to cut them into short sections
- Top with fresh coriander and serve
Now, my family are suckers for pickles and salads, especially at this time of year - my mum kicks up an absolute storm in the garden to keep us supplied with fresh goodies all summer and well into the autumn, and there really is nothing better than sitting down to a meal with such a strong kick like that. So we had our goujons with pickled red cabbage and pickled broad beans, both of which were absolutely gorgeous and completely home grown. As well as that, there's always the added bonus of pickled anything's being wonderful for adding a bit of extra colour to a plate, which never fails to go down well!
A happy plate means a happy stomach, so serve up and enjoy!
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