Pecan Trout with Mushrooms, Tomato, and Cheese Polenta

Ready for a southern-style meal? They're lightened up considerably, removing extra oil and all traces of cream, but are absolutely delicious and will leave you hoping there are enough leftovers for lunch the next day. The side here, the polenta, is also packed with vegetables, making use of fresh tomato liberally.

Look for instant polenta in your local supermarket, but if you can't find it, you can also make it using cornmeal. It will be a much longer process so the instant is far easier, but it's always an option if you are in a pinch!

Difficulty: medium-easy
Time: 1 hr
Cost: $21.19



Pecan Trout
Time: 30 min

Ingredients:
1/4 c pecan chips
1/3 c panko
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb trout fillet
1 tsp black pepper
1/3 c low fat buttermilk

Use a grinder (I prefer to use my coffee bean grinder due to its small size) to grind the pecan chips. Put the ground pecans in a bowl and mix evenly with the panko.

Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the olive oil, swirling to coat. Sprinkle all of the trout fillets evenly with black pepper.

Pour the buttermilk into a shallow dish. Working with half of the fillets, take each fillet and dip in the buttermilk. Lightly shake to let the excess buttermilk run off. Dredge that side of the fillet into the nut mixture and press lightly to get the mixture to stick. Place the fillet into the pan, nut-side down. Cook for 4 minutes then flip carefully. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove and place on a plate.

Pour in the remaining half of the olive oil and repeat the entire process with the other half of the fish. Enjoy right away.

Servings: 2
Serving size: 1/2 lb of fish
Nutrition: calories 634; carbs 17g; fat 35g; protein 60g; sodium 150mg; iron 11mg

Mushrooms, Tomato, and Cheese Polenta
Time: 1 hr

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
2 c onion, diced
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
4 oz exotic mushroom blend, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp rosemary, dried
1/3 c red wine
2 c tomato, chopped
1 cup polenta
1/2 c reduced fat parmesan, grated
1/4 c low fat mozzarella, shredded
1 tsp black pepper

Get your oven pre-heating to 400 degrees.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil, swirling to coat. Add the onion and saute for 7-8 minutes, stirring often enough to keep from burning. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Saute for another 4-5 minutes.

Add the rosemary, red wine, and tomatoes to the pan. Reduce the heat and cook for another five minutes, stirring to mix evenly. Then remove from the heat.

Prepare 1 cup of instant polenta according to the directions on the package.

Coat a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1/3 of the polenta in the bottom of the dish. Put half the tomato mixture in an even layer over the polenta. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the parmesan on top, 1/8 c of the mozzarella, and 1/2 tsp of black pepper. Repeat those layers again. Then, put the final third of the polenta on top and the final 4 tbsp of parmesan.

Bake for 25 minutes. It should be hot and bubbly.

Servings: 6
Serving size: 4"x3" rectangle
Nutrition: calories 204; carbs 33g; fat 4g; protein 8g; sodium 199mg; iron 13mg