Cornmeal Catfish with Tomato Gravy
Blackened Tilapia with Garlic-Lime Butter
Grilled Swordfish with Caponata
Perkins’s Jumbo Shrimp Dinner with French Fries and Broccoli
1,240 calories
69 g fat (18 g saturated)
2,610 mg sodium
Price: $9.99
Shrimp plates are one of the few restaurant dishes that consistently fall on either extreme of the health spectrum, and there’s usually only one factor determining the crustacean’s nutritional fate: the deep fryer. Order your shrimp grilled or sautéed, and you reap the benefits of the seafood’s lean protein. Opt for fried fish, and you may as well be eating a cheeseburger. And while we’re on the topic of the detrimental effects of fried fare, since when did french fries become a suitable seafood side?
Eat This Instead!
Shrimp & Grits (Check out our recipe!)
340 calories
10 g fat (4 g saturated)
610 mg sodium
Cost per serving: $3.24
Save! 900 calories and $6.75!
Cheesecake Factory’s Shrimp and Chicken Gumbo
1,570 calories
N/A g fat (37 g saturated fat)
2,249 mg sodium
Price: $16.95
Depending on the recipe, gumbo can run the gamut from lean and light to heavy and salty. The traditional Cajun version is usually thickened with flour and butter, and—not one to shy away from fattening fare—the Cheesecake Factory sticks to tradition. But it takes more than a scoop of flour and a stick of butter to reach the Factory’s signature sky-high calorie counts; the rest of the calories in this New Orleans classic come from a mountain of refined white rice in the center of the bowl. Cioppino provides the same deep, slow-simmered flavor of gumbo, but forgoes nearly 2 days’ worth of saturated fat for a huge helping of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Eat This Instead!
Cioppino (Check out our recipe!)
280 calories
6 g fat (1 g saturated)
760 mg sodium
Cost per serving: $4.50
Save! 1,290 calories and $12.45!
WORST FISH TACOS
On The Border’s Dos XX Fish Tacos with Creamy Red Chile Sauce (without rice)
1,670 calories
116 g fat (27 g saturated)
2,910 mg sodium
Price: $9.99
We don’t always eat tacos, but when we do, we certainly don’t eat Dos XX. A deep-fried battering, a cream-sauce smothering, and a flour-torilla flogging leave this fish dish with as many calories as 10 Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos. Sure, there are other fish in the sea, but if you want a serious seafood dinner, make it at home. We pair the spice of blackened tilapia with the cool of lime butter. Wrap it all in a warm corn tortilla with a bit of salsa and you have yourself The World's Most Interesting Fish Taco.
Eat This Instead!
Blackened Tilapia with Garlic-Lime Butter (Check out our recipe!)
300 calories
14 g fat (6 g saturated)
510 mg sodium
Cost per serving: $2.32
Save! 1,370 calories and $7.67!
Cheesecake Factory’s Miso Salmon
1,740 calories
N/A g fat (40 g saturated)
2,354 mg sodium
Price: $19.95
We feel bad for this fish’s PR team. What could be more scandalous than a plate of salmon—the epitome of a healthy protein—saddled with 2 days’ worth of saturated fat and close to a day’s calories? What’s worse, this dish is one of the most disturbing health-food frauds we’ve found. The side of snow peas and the glaze of soybean-based miso are usually nutritional no-brainers, and the scoop of white rice—while not particularly healthy—certainly doesn’t pack the caloric punch to deliver such a massive blow to your diet. Guess that’s what you get when you let straitlaced salmon hang out with the ruffians in the restaurant world.
Eat This Instead!
Roast Salmon with Lentils (Check out our recipe!)
440 calories
12 g fat (2 g saturated)
680 mg sodium
Cost per serving: $3.35
Save! 1,300 calories and $16.60!
WORST FISH AND CHIPS
Applebee’s New England Fish and Chips
1,930 calories
138 g fat (24 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)
3,180 mg sodium
Price: $9.99
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: When fish hits the fryer, your diet hits the skids. At chains like Applebee’s, a dousing of hot oil can result in a seafood selection with nearly a day’s calories, plus when you venture too far from shore—and by shore, we mean your kitchen—you run the risk of encountering treacherous waves of trans fatty acids. The fish plate here packs close to the maximum recommended intake of trans fats, which is surprising considering Applebee’s swore off the heart-hurting nutrient in 2007. Fishy.
Eat This Instead!
Fish and Chips (Check out our recipe!)
380 calories
14 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
810 mg sodium
Cost per serving: $4.29
Save! 1,550 calories and $5.70!
We're living in a super-sized world. We drive to work in tank-like SUVs, buy our groceries in warehouse-sized supermarkets, and return home to double-decker houses with spare bedrooms and two-car garages. Our television screens fill entire walls. And yes, not surprisingly, our portions and even our serving vessels have gotten bigger and bigger along the way.
According to a Journal of Consumer Research study published earlier this year, the average dinner plate has increased 23 percent, from 9.6 inches to 11.8 inches, since the early 20th century. That same study found that when eating off larger plates, people underestimate serving sizes—a finding that only reinforces numerous other studies showing that appetite is largely dependent on environmental cues.
This calls up one of the big challenges of eating reasonably: When you're eating off a manhole-sized dinner plate, a modest scoop of spaghetti looks almost comical—like a kid wearing his father's suit jacket. So you add a couple more scoops, and go about cleaning your plate. You've just super-sized your meal, tripled your caloric intake, and undermined your best efforts to lose weight. The worst part: The food wasn't any better, richer, or more delicious. There was just, well, a lot more of it.
Thankfully, the fix for this silent weight-gain culprit is as easy as stocking your cabinet with a new set of plates.
OUR PICK:
BASIC WHITE 8-INCH SALAD PLATES
$15.99 for set of 8 Target.com
Today's "salad" plate was once considered adequate for dinner—and it still is. Use these smaller plates in place of your usual 10- or 12-inch plates and you'll soon find that your jeans are fitting a little looser.
Small Plate
SUPERPOWERS
In recent years, researchers at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab have discovered a lot about how serving dishes affect how much we consume. The takeaway is this: Use smaller plates because you'll be less likely to overeat if you keep the plates and bowls small.
Worried the small plate won't provide enough food to fill your stomach? Don't be. Looking at an empty plate makes your brain more likely to fire off a fullness signal, so while you can always go back for seconds, there's a good chance you won't want to.
Another finding from the Journal of Consumer Research study was that people feel like they're eating more food when the plate-to-food color contrast is highest. So red plates accentuate green foods, purple plates accentuate yellow foods, and so on. To maximize color contrast with as many recipes as possible, keep a set of 8-inch white plates in your cabinet (white provides the most universally high-contrast backdrop) plus have a handful of other primary color plates on hand to contrast your more colorful creations.
Fish & Chips
We love everything about the idea of fish and chips—the crunch of the batter playing off the tender bite of the fish, the pile of crispy potatoes, the dollop of tartar sauce or splash of malt vinegar served on the side. This playful ode to the English staple combines all of the fish and chips experience in one bite, using crushed salt and vinegar potato chips to coat cod fillets, which are then baked until crispy and golden brown. The only thing it leaves out of the equation is the most regrettable part of fish and chips: all those excess calories from the deep fryer. If you want real chips on the side, we suggest Crispy Oven-Baked Fries or Smoked Paprika Potato Chips.
You’ll Need:
4 cod fillets, 6 oz each
1 cup nonfat buttermilk
Tabasco to taste
¾ cup panko bread crumbs
¾ cup crushed salt and vinegar chips
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp chopped pickles
1 Tbsp capers
1 tsp Dijon mustard
How to Make It:
• Combine the cod, buttermilk, and a few shakes of Tabasco in a sealable plastic bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the bread crumbs and crushed chips in a shallow baking dish and season with a few pinches of salt and black pepper. Working with one piece at a time, remove the fish from the buttermilk and roll in the coating, using your fingers to pat the mixture onto the surface of the fish.
• Place the coated fish onto a rack set in a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the coating is nicely browned and crunchy and the fish flakes with gentle pressure from your finger.
• While the fish bakes, combine the mayo, yogurt, lemon juice, pickles, capers, and Dijon in a mixing bowl. Serve the fish with a scoop of tartar sauce on the side.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$4.29
380 calories
14 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
810 mg sodium
Spanish Garlic Shrimp
A staple on Spanish tapas menus everywhere, gambas al ajillo is a dead simple but genius combination of shrimp slow-cooked in olive oil that’s been infused with lots of garlic, smoked paprika, and a touch of chile heat. Serve it as an appetizer and everyone will beg you for the recipe. Serve it with a scoop of couscous and some roasted asparagus, and you have a magical weeknight dinner. Either way, you’ll need a bit of bread to drag through the garlicky olive oil at the bottom of the pot.
You’ll Need:
¼ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ tsp smoked paprika
Salt to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
How to Make It:
• Combine the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper in a medium sauté pan set over very low heat. Cook slowly for about 5 minutes, until very soft and caramelized, being careful not to let it burn.
• Season the shrimp with the smoked paprika and salt and add to the pan. Sauté, turning once, for about 4 minutes total, just until cooked through. Sprinkle in the parsley and serve with bread for dunking into the garlic oil.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$2.65
250 calories
15 g fat (2 g saturated)
310 mg sodium
Cornmeal Catfish
with Tomato Gravy
The idea for this recipe comes from one of the kings of comfort food, Sean Brock, who cooks up soul-rattling Southern dishes at his Charleston restaurant, Husk. Sean has an incredible gift for making food you will crave months after eating: crispy chicken skins with peach marmalade, shrimp and grits with charred peppers, fried green tomatoes topped with pimento cheese and country ham. But what haunts us the most is his catfish with a simple tomato gravy, a recipe from that endless source of comfort food the world over, a grandmother—Sean’s, to be precise.
You’ll Need:
2 Tbsp rendered bacon fat
2 Tbsp plus ½ cup ground cornmeal
1 can (14.5 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, lightly crushed, juices discarded
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
4 catfish fillets (about 6 oz each)
How to Make It:
• Heat the bacon fat in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the 2 tablespoons cornmeal and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until the cornmeal is light brown. Add the drained tomatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.
• While the sauce simmers, prepare the catfish: Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or nonstick pan over medium heat. Spread the ½ cup of cornmeal out in a shallow dish and season with the cayenne, plus a few good pinches of salt and black pepper. Dust the catfish on both sides with the cornmeal and place in the hot pan. Cook, turning once, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and crusty and the fish flakes with gentle pressure from your finger. Serve each fillet with a big scoop of tomato gravy.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$2.67
340 calories
16 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
500 mg sodium
Cioppino
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a flood of Italian immigrants made their way to San Francisco, leaving a permanent mark on the culinary fabric of the city. One of the great dishes to come from that period is cioppino, a hearty fish and shellfish soup based on the classic seafood soups of the old country. This is a very fast, very delicious version, combining a full roster of nutritional superstars: tomatoes, garlic, wine, herbs, and lots of fresh seafood.
You’ll Need:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bulb fennel, cored and diced, fronds chopped and reserved for garnish
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1½ cups clam juice
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1½ cups red wine (Pinot)
2 bay leaves
½ tsp dried thyme
1 lb firm white fish, such as halibut, cod, or mahi mahi
½ lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 to 16 mussels, scrubbed and debearded*
Salt and black pepper to taste
* Most mussels come fully cleaned these days, but just in case, pick through and remove any stringy "beards" that may still be attached to the shells.
How to Make It:
• Heat the olive oil in large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
• Drain the tomatoes, discarding the juice. Lightly crush the tomatoes with your fingers (careful, juice may splatter from inside the tomato). Add the tomatoes to the pot, along with the clam juice, chicken broth, wine, bay leaves, and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the fish, shrimp, and mussels. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the fish is firm, the shrimp is pink, and the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that do not open. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper.
• Discard the bay leaves and serve the soup with the reserved fennel fronds for garnish.
Makes 6 servings
Per Serving:
$4.50
280 calories
6 g fat (1 g saturated)
760 mg sodium
Blackened Tilapia
with Garlic-Lime Butter
Ever eaten any blackened food that wasn’t delicious (besides those steaks your dad scorches every year at the Fourth of July barbecue)? Neither have we. Consider it a bonus that blackening is actually an incredibly healthy way of cooking, giving the fish or meat a body armor of potent disease-fighting antioxidants in the form of tantalizing spices. Truth be told, the flavored butter here is the icing on the cake; if you have a great fresh piece of fish, just coat it with a bit of blackening spice, follow the cooking instructions, and maybe squeeze a lemon over the top.
Blackening
The best way to get the full sear you want is in a scorching-hot cast-iron skillet. Heat a thin film of oil in the skillet over the highest possible heat (and turn on the kitchen fan). When wisps of smoke begin to rise from the oil, carefully add the fish or meat. Don't touch it for at least 2 minutes; you want a dark crust to set in over the protein, and fiddling with the food will prevent this from happening. Cook for 75 percent of the time on one side, then flip and finish on the other.
You’ll Need:
2 Tbsp butter, softened at room temperature
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp lime zest, plus juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp canola oil
4 tilapia fillets (6 oz each)
1 Tbsp Magic Blackening Rub
How to Make It:
• Combine the butter, cilantro, garlic, lime zest, and lime juice in a small mixing bowl and stir to thoroughly blend. Set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or sauté pan over high heat. Rub the tilapia all over with the blackening rub. When the oil in the pan lightly smokes, add the fish and cook, undisturbed, for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side, until the spice rub becomes dark and crusty. Flip and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes, until the fillets flake with gentle pressure from your finger.
• Transfer the fish to 4 serving plates and immediately top each with a bit of the flavored butter.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$2.32
300 calories
14 g fat (6 g saturated)
510 mg sodium
Roast Salmon
with Lentils
Lentils have a bit of a PR problem in America. They have been banished to the deepest, darkest parts of the pantry while less-deserving ingredients like rice and pasta get all the love. Truth is, few ingredients fuse nutrition, affordability, ease, and taste quite like the humble lentil. This dish, a bistro classic, is a testament to its greatness. While the salmon roasts away in the oven, the lentils are simmered into tender submission. Separately, each makes for fine eating, but together they merge into something truly special.
You’ll Need:
½ Tbsp olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
½ medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dried lentils
3 cups chicken broth or water
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 salmon fillets (4 oz each)
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp brown sugar
How to Make It:
• Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft and lightly browned. Add the lentils, broth, and bay leaves. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Before serving, add the vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and discard the bay leaves.
• While the lentils simmer, roast the salmon: Season the fish with salt and black pepper. Combine the mustard and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and spread evenly over the salmon fillets.
• Place the salmon on a baking sheet and place on the top rack of the oven. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until the salmon has browned on the surface and flakes with gentle pressure from your finger.
• Divide the lentils among 4 plates or pasta bowls and top each serving with a piece of salmon.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$3.35
440 calories
12 g fat (2 g saturated)
680 mg sodium
Shrimp & Grits
Most shrimp that shows up on restaurant menus is either breaded and fried or sautéed in a bath of melted butter. Instead, we spike sautéed shrimp with scallions, cayenne, and crispy hunks of kielbasa to keep the calories below 400 in this savory bowl of Southern comfort.
Deveining shrimp
That vein people always refer to when talking about shrimp? It's actually their digestive tract. You're definitely going to want to cut it out. Here's how.
• STEP 1: Peel the shell and remove the tail.
• STEP 2: Make a shallow incision along the back.
• STEP 3: Fish out the vein with the tip of your knife.
You’ll Need:
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup diced cooked turkey kielbasa
4 scallions, whites and greens separated, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz fresh mushrooms (button, cremini, or shiitake), stems removed, sliced
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and black pepper to taste
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ cup quick-cooking grits
¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
How to Make It:
• Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Add the kielbasa; cook for a few minutes, until lightly browned. Add the scallion whites, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the shrimp and continue cooking until the shrimp are just pink and firm to the touch. Stir in the broth and cook for another 3 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half and the shrimp are cooked all the way through. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
• While the shrimp are cooking, cook the grits according to the package instructions. When they’re thick and creamy, add the cheese and season with salt and pepper.
• Divide the grits and shrimp among 4 bowls and garnish with the scallion greens.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$3.24
340 calories
10 g fat (4 g saturated)
610 mg sodium
Grilled Swordfish
with Caponata
Sicilian cooking is some of the greatest on the planet, built around a tradition of humble pasta dishes, sophisticated desserts, and beautiful fish and seafood preparations. There are two items you will find on nearly every restaurant menu across the island: grilled swordfish and caponata, Sicily’s answer to ratatouille, a slow-cooked sweet-and-sour vegetable stew. You rarely see them together in the same dish, but as soon as you taste this—preferably in the summer, with the fish hot off the grill—you’ll see why it makes us so happy.
You’ll Need:
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for coating the fish
2 medium eggplants, cut into ½" cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14½ oz) diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp raisins (preferably golden raisins)
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 small swordfish steaks, 6 oz each
How to Make It:
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the eggplant, onion, and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned and softened. Add the tomatoes, raisins, capers, vinegar, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft and the mixture has the consistency of marmalade. Stir in the basil and season with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.
• Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat the swordfish with olive oil and season both sides with salt and black pepper. Grill the steaks for 4 minutes, until nice grill marks have developed (you can rotate the steaks 45 degrees midway through to create diamond-shape grill marks if you like). Flip and continue cooking for about 4 minutes longer, until the flesh flakes with gentle pressure from your finger. Serve each serving of swordfish with a generous scoop of caponata over the top.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$5.80
360 calories
11 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
520 mg sodium
Seared Scallops
with White Beans & Spinach
You have to look long and hard to find a scallop on a restaurant menu and we can’t quite figure out why. They’re a tremendous source of lean protein, super-easy to cook, and stack up well with bold and subtle flavors alike. Learn to properly sear a scallop (hint: make sure the scallop is very dry and the pan is very hot) and you’ll be won over.
Sea scallops in the seafood case can be pricey, but scallops—like shrimp—rarely arrive at the market fresh. Instead, they're frozen after catching and defrosted when put on sale. So why pay the extra cash for faux-fresh scallops when you can buy them frozen for a fraction of the price? Grocers like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods sell bags of high-quality frozen scallops and shrimp for about 60 percent of the seafood-case cost.
You’ll Need:
2 strips bacon, chopped into small pieces*
½ red onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained**
4 cups baby spinach
1 lb large sea scallops
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 Tbsp butter
Juice of 1 lemon
* Feel free to kill the bacon, but for about 18 calories per serving, it adds a ton of flavor to the overall dish.
** There are a lot of different types of white beans sold in cans. All will work, but cannellini beans are best.
How to Make It:
• Heat a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook the bacon until it has begun to crisp. Add the onion and garlic; saute until the onion is soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beans and spinach and simmer until the beans are hot and the spinach is wilted. Keep warm.
• Heat a large cast-iron skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Blot the scallops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the butter and the scallops to the pan and sear the scallops for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deeply caramelized.
• Before serving, add the lemon juice to the beans. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the beans among 4 warm bowls or plates and top with scallops.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$4.15
280 calories
7 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
360 mg sodium
Sole Meunière
Deadly simple but intensely satisfying, this French bistro classic ranks as one of the great dishes of the world—especially when made with the freshest fish possible. Sole is extremely tough to come by in most parts of America, and it’s known to inflict damage to the wallet, so we recommend trying this with flounder, which is widely available at about half the price. The French might not approve, but it will be our little secret.
You’ll Need:
4 fillets sole or flounder (6 oz each)
Salt to taste
¼ cup flour
4 Tbsp butter
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Chopped fresh parsley
How to Make It:
• Season the fish on both sides with salt. Place the flour in a flat dish and dredge the fish on both sides, shaking off any excess flour.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick pan over medium heat until foaming and lightly browned (careful, butter goes from brown to burnt very quickly). Working in two batches if necessary, cook the fish, turning once, for about 6 minutes total, until it’s nicely browned on both sides and flakes with gentle pressure from your finger. Place a fillet on each of 4 warm plates.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the lemon juice and zest, and parsley to the pan. Swirl the pan until the butter is fully melted. Divide the sauce among the 4 fillets and serve.
Makes 4 servings
Per Serving:
$3.91
290 calories
14 g fat (8 g saturated)
460 mg sodium