Canadian Health Magazine: Intelligent Eating: Grouper with Saffron and Olives

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Intelligent Eating

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Grouper with Saffron and Olives

Saffron, olives and sherry give this dish a sunny Spanish flair that’s perfect for summer

Recipe developed for Canadian Health by Diana Swift

Nutritional analysis by Susie Langley, RD

Photography by Jason Grenier

12 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 small Spanish onion, grated

4 4-oz (125-g) fresh fillets of grouper (or other firm white fish such as tilapia and sea bass)

¼ cup (60 mL) reduced-sodium chicken stock

Juice of 1 large lemon

Good pinch saffron threads

4 pimento-stuffed mammoth olives, rinsed well of brine and thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tbsp (30 mL) dry sherry

Note: A pinch of powdered turmeric, which is much cheaper and easier to find than saffron, will give the sauce a similar yellow colour but not the matchless bitter-hay flavour of saffron. Saffron consists of the pistils of the autumn-flowering crocus and it takes about 125,000 flowers to make a kilo of these crimson filaments — the world’s most expensive spice.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil to medium high in a heavy frying pan.
Add garlic and onion and sauté until vegetables start to turn golden, about 3 minutes.
Remove garlic and onion and reserve.
Add second tbsp of oil to pan and heat. Add fish and cook on 1 side 3 minutes. Carefully turn over and cook 3 minutes more, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Remove fish to a serving platter (smoother side up) and keep warm.
Add garlic, onion, stock, lemon juice and saffron. Heat 1 minute, scraping up any fish particles from bottom of pan.
Add olives and pepper and heat 1 minute more. Stir in sherry. Pour sauce evenly over fish pieces.
Serve with rice and your favourite green salad.

Makes 4 servings

[Per serving 210 calories, 9 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 5.5 g monounsaturated fat, 1.47 g polyunsaturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 25 g protein, 4 g carbohydrates, 150 mg sodium]

Excellent source of high-quality protein and monounsaturated fat

An olive a day keeps the doctor away

The ultimate Mediterranean fruit, olives are 75% fat but still low in calories. And happily, their fat is the benign kind. They’re a very good source of the heart-healthy monounsaturated lipid oleic acid, which can help raise the good cholesterol, lower the bad and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. They also deliver some calcium, iron, copper, dietary fibre and vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin E and monounsaturated fats have anti-inflammatory properties, which are thought to reduce the severity of asthma and arthritis. Certain plant chemicals in olives also have anti-inflammatory effects and may act to dilate blood vessels. Supermarket olives are usually cured in a salty brine, and one mammoth stuffed olive can contain as much as 135 mg of sodium. So if you can’t stop at one or two, look for brands cured in vinegar or oil.