By Barton Seaver 
www.bartonseaver.com

In New England cookbooks, I often see recipes that call for coating fish in mayonnaise before broiling it. The process struck me as old-fashioned and a bit boring, until I tried it. For so little effort, you reap really great taste results. This technique serves up a moist, flavorful piece of fish every time. By cutting the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt, you also cut the fat and boost the protein in this already protein-rich seafood dish.

Oh, and did I mention you can make all kinds of broiled flaky white fish in 10 minutes flat, in a toaster oven? The toaster oven works better, actually, than using a larger oven’s broiler because the smaller compartment helps a cook efficiently manage the overall temperature inside it and the fish cooks faster.

Broiling, applying high heat from above, adds flavor because some charring and caramelization graces the top of the fish while the tender flesh stays moist. Broiling fish in the colder months brings that rustic taste of summertime fish cooked outside on the grill into the kitchen.

Broiling, like grilling, is a technique typically applied to richer fish with more luxurious and healthy fats like salmon or swordfish. However, when broiling is combined with a brightly flavored accompaniment like mayonnaise, yogurt, sherry vinegar and tarragon or mayonnaise, yogurt, soy sauce and ginger, the method adds succulence to leaner seafood like tilapia, catfish, haddock and flounder.

Using this quick technique helps any cook get more healthy seafood on the table more often. Eating seafood is one of the best, easiest ways to improve overall health. Seafood is a clean and lean protein that provides a variety of nutrients proven to be beneficial to heart and brain health. Eating seafood can boosts your energy, make you feel better, and help you live longer.

I urge you to take the Seafood Nutrition Partnership’s Pledge to Eat #Seafood2xWk as a positive commitment to eat the USDA’s recommendation of eating two servings of seafood per week. For more information about the pledge, go to www.seafoodnutrition.org.

Tilapia with Ginger Glaze
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• Four, 5-ounce skinless tilapia fillets
• Salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons low fat Greek-style plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lemon
• One, 1-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

• Season the fish with salt and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the broiler or toaster oven.​
• Combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, garlic and scallions in a medium bowl and whisk together. Place the tilapia on a baking sheet.  Spread a heaping spoonful of the glaze over each piece of fish. Place coated fish under the broiler on the highest rack as close to the heat source as possible, so the fillets are situated evenly under the heating unit. Broil for 7-8 minutes, rotating if necessary, to evenly brown. Fish is fully cooked when it flakes easily when gently pressed.  Serve immediately.