Fresh Fish, Part 1

Last weekend I bought some fresh seafood from Fairway, a well-known grocery store in NYC. In my opinion, Fairway is one of the best places to buy seafood because their fish counter is nestled inside a walk-in refrigerated section of the store that ensures everything stays super fresh. The fish is always kept super cold on ice and the fish counter never smells “fishy.”

These days I’m still eating a mostly vegan diet, but I enjoy eating fresh fish every now and then. I like to stay flexible with my eating habits, because I have no idea how I’m going to feel day-to-day, month-to-month, or year-to-year. However, one thing stays the same. I love fresh, healthy, and natural food. I can’t imagine that changing!

On Friday night I made grilled sea bass sandwiches and a crab and scallop chowder. They both came out amazing! I told my boyfriend that I was patting myself on the back after a night of hard work in the kitchen. After taking a break from cooking over the holidays, I really missed cooking and had so much fun staying indoors on a Friday night. Today I’m sharing the grilled sea bass sandwich with you (fresh fish, part 1). It’s a whole get-your-hands-messy meal on its own. Stay tuned for the crab and scallop chowder recipe coming tomorrow (fresh fish, part 2). I hope you enjoy them!

Grilled Sea Bass Sandwich w/ Sriracha Mayo

(makes 2 sandwiches)

1 loaf ciabatta bread

3/4 lb. sea bass filet (about 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick)

Leaves of romaine lettuce

Slices of tomato

2 tbsp. Grapeseed Vegenaise

1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

1 tbsp. olive oil

Salt & pepper

Heat up a grill pan (or sauté pan) to high heat. Rinse the sea bass in cold water then pat dry with a paper towel. Drizzle olive oil in the pan. Sprinkle Old Bay seasoning on top of the fish. Place the fish in the pan, skin side up. Cook for about 7 minutes, then flip over to place the skin side down. Cook for about 7-10 minutes more until the fish is opaque all the way through but still juicy.

Meanwhile, cut the ciabatta bread into big squares and lay out on plates. Mix the Vegenaise, Sriracha, and garlic powder together in a small bowl, then spread onto the slices of bread. Top half of each sandwich with slices of romaine lettuce and tomato. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of the tomato slices.

When the fish is done, remove it from your grill pan and peel off the skin. Lay the fish on top of each sandwich and cover with the remaining slices of bread. Serve immediately.

Tip 1: If you purchased fish with the skin already removed, this is fine. I like to cook fish and remove the skin before I serve it since it easily slides off the fish before I’m ready to eat it. Tip 2: Always purchase the best-quality fresh fish you can find in your area. Having really fresh fish makes all the difference to a wonderful meal. Tip 3: I liked the organic ciabatta bread I bought for this sandwich because the sea bass is really juicy and you need a nice hearty bread to handle all the moisture from the sea bass.

p.s. I saw Rachel Ray using vegan mayonnaise on the Food Network on Sunday. She was doing a healthy 30-minute meal. I agree with her that vegan mayo is a wonderful healthy substitute for regular mayo and tastes great on a sandwich. She mixed it with curry spices and slathered it on top of sea bass before cooking it. I guess we were on the same wavelength!