Pescatarian - please help with meal ideas and recipes

[wanttobloom]

hello, looking for some help and advice!

I’ve been pescatarian for two years now, really miss meat! I’m overweight and anaemic and generally feel tired which is down to a poor diet, poor lifestyle and lots of stress.

I really want to overhaul my diet and eat better and I know I need to up my protein content. I also really miss eating meat but I don’t want to go back to it.
Can anyone tell me some good, healthy meals I can start making?

I want to try and keep my meals as healthy and unprocessed as possible but also enjoyable. I really need to reset my mind and health when it comes to food!

thank you so much!

You should eat more chicken of the sea

Tinned mackeral with 5 bean salad, lemon, black pepper and herb salad

Smoked basa fillet with poached egg and granary toast

Smoked mackeral pate made with low-fat cottage cheese, and jacket potato

Chick pea and kale curry

Quinoa with pan fried white fish and a home-made salsa

Vegetable and pearl barley soup

Tomato and white bean soup

I make this recipe for lunches, works both hot and cold. I substitute out the soya beans for another green veg as not keen on them.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/zingy-salmon-brown-rice-salad

Following for other ideas too

This soy salmon is delicious and filling (serves 2):

Mix a marinade of 30g soy sauce, 5g rice vinegar, 5g honey, a grated 'thumb' of ginger.
Marinade 2 x 120g salmon pieces (we buy in packs from supermarket) for about half a day

When you want to eat:
Grill salmon for 8 minutes
Separately put the marinade in a saucepan and cook down over a med-high heat.

Serve with your carb and veg of choice, with the cooked down marinade drizzled over. We have steamed pak choi and green beans.
Carb - goes well with steamed rice or bulgur wheat, but these days I usually have cauliflower rice.

Another super easy one is pan-fried sea bass fillets. Just fry skin-side down in a little olive oil until it begins to turn opaque and then flip it over to finish. Serve with whatever veg you want. Also good served with ratatouille or caponata.

And, finally, another favourite, easy one that is super filling: harissa prawns with white beans. Serves 2.
Fry a leek in a bit of olive oil. When it's softened add a minced garlic clove and fry for another minute or two.
Add a teaspoon of harissa paste (about 12g) and 200g of chopped tomatoes (i.e. half a tin) and about half a tin of water. I add half a teaspoon of stock powder at this point, but it's not vital.
Simmer for a bit (10-15 mins).
Tip in a drained tin of cannellini beans and cook for another 5 mins
Add 200-250 pack of prawns (I use the frozen already cooked ones) and heat through (or cook through if you're using raw prawns).
Right at end stir in the grated zest of half a lemon.
I find this filling enough on its own, DH has it with some bread. We usually have some green veg of some type with it.

@Bogginsthe3rd What do you call chicken of the sea?

I switched from being vegetarian to pescatarian in order to boost my protien intake. But ring the changes and have plenty of veggie dinners rather than having fish every day. I tend to alternate one day veggie one day fish or it gets boring.

Smoked salmon is good in the face of a bacon craving.

For recipes I recommend you browse the Hello Fresh recipe cards. You don't have to sign up to see the recipes and they are almost all things that have 8 or less ingredients and take 30 mins to prepare, and you can filter the search for dietary preferences.

I'd go for plenty of fish if you lack protein.

Easy, healthy dinners like:

Pan-fried salmon with soy, lime and sweet chilli sauce, with egg noodles and stir fry veg

Cod or hake with finely sliced fennel, lemon, chilli, spring onion and a splash of wine, wrapped in paper parcels, served with steamed broccoli and baby new potatoes

Smoked haddock kedgeree made with peas, parsley, onion, egg and loads of mild spices which are very good for you

Pasta puttanesca - probably not a trad recipe, but I make it with red onions, red peppers, tomato, sardines, anchovies, olives, chilli, garlic, red wine and parsley.

Tapenade roast cod - You can just spread pesto, a bit of olive tapenade and a few chopped sun dried tomatoes on cod and bake it with tiny new potatoes, and serve with steamed greens or garlic spinach.

What about eggs - a frittata of onion, red, yellow and orange peppers, potatoes, peas, garlic and herbs, with a leafy salad?

Stir fry veg with edamame beans, cashew nuts, tofu if you like it, and egg noodles would be a good source of protein.

Try switching all your bread and rice to wholemeal as that has more protein in it.

You can up your intake of plant based protein with all kinds of beans and lentils - veggie stews are great this time of year and you can chuck in a couple of handfuls of lentils or a can of chickpeas or black beans. Try adding nuts and seeds to your diet too, or a protein smoothie for breakfast.

Oily fish at least twice a week, salmon is easy to cook and tinned tuna/sardines/mackerel are good too - you can make fajitas with them, delicious!

Eggs are a great source of protein too - easy for breakfast or a big veggie frittata for dinner with a big salad.

Your friend and mine. Tuna.