For many of us, the end of the year tends to be a full schedule of commitments which is why these last weeks of December can also be the perfect time to embrace a moment of stillness for yourself. If you can find one single hour to cook a big batch of home-cooked, wild-caught seafood to stash in the fridge, you’ll be able to kick back and coast through the next few days, without having to lift a single cooking utensil.
Maybe it’s a big pot of soup or stew that keeps you fed. Something like this creamy Coconut Milk Stew with Pacific Cod to brighten up your soup bowl. Or, perhaps it’s a dutch oven full of White Bean Chili with White Fish that gets you through while you’re prepping for a big weekend.
It could even be a meal where the seafood is just as good hot as it is cold, one for which reheating is purely optional. This recipe for Spicy Sheet Pan Salmon and Eggplant, marinated in soy sauce and sweet-and-smoky chili paste, is so full of flavor that you’ll enjoy it straight from the fridge. Or for something more fresh, try our cooked version of a Ginger-Lime Salmon Poke. These recipes are easy to double or triple as you like so that you only have to cook them once for several days of delicious eating.
Or perhaps your moment of stillness is brought to you by a flaked fish moment. Bake a tray-full of any species you like — make enough fillets to last you about three days — then flake ‘em down into a batch of 5-Minute Salmon Salad or Easy Baked Fish Cakes. Both are perfect over a green salad or served as a sandwich.
All of these recipes take less than an hour to make, and though I know you’ll enjoy making them — each recipe is easy and, I think, fun! — you’ll appreciate these meals even more when they’re ready in your refrigerator as a culinary gift to yourself.
Live Wild,
Monica
Pictured above: A platter of fish cakes made with wild-caught seafood, ready to be served or packed up for easy meals throughout the week.
