Shopping the Farmer’s Market with Chef Tom Colicchio

Healthy Eats was excited when we scored an invite to shop the farmers market alongside chef Tom Colicchio. After all, the influential chef and restauranteur’s name is synonymous with gorgeous produce picked at the height of its season. (Decades before “farm-to-table” was an official movement, he scouted the Union Square Farmers Market for just-picked garden gems to cook at Gramercy Tavern and Craft.)

 

And there’s no better place than the farmers market for Chef Colicchio to help promote Naked Juice’s new line of delicious cold-pressed juices made with botanicals like lemongrass and lavender. As we peruse the stalls, Colicchio points out some of his late-spring favorites, including asparagus, pea shoots, morel mushrooms, ramps and bright yellow broccoli rabe flowers, which he uses to add hits of color and spice to salads and vegetable or grain dishes.

 

When I tell chef Colicchio it doesn’t feel like spring until I make bucatini with pancetta and ramps, I score a pro tip: “Do you know what would take that dish to the next level? Shave a little bottarga overtop.”

 

He also shares one more tip: his recipe for Fish Tacos with Charred Pineapple Relish and Pickled Cucumber Salad (created to complement Naked Pressed Cool Pineapple), a light, fresh and healthy dish that’s the perfect way to celebrate the start of grilling season.

Fish Tacos with Charred Pineapple Relish and Pickled Cucumber Salad

Courtesy of Tom Colicchio for Naked Juice

Makes 6 small tacos

 

INGREDIENTS

1 pineapple, peeled (cut lengthwise into quarters away from the core)

1 knob ginger, peeled (diced small)

3 cloves garlic, peeled (diced)

1 cup sugar

3 1/3 cups white wine vinegar

1 jalapeño of Fresno pepper (finely diced)

1 bunch scallions (thinly sliced)
1 cucumber (cut lengthwise, seeded and sliced into semi-circles)

Salt

1 watermelon radish, peeled (cut into thin strips)

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 lb. firm-fleshed white fish (like sea bass), cut into 6 small filets

6 small flour tortillas

 

 

DIRECTIONS

 

For the Charred Pineapple Relish:

Char the pineapple on the grill, turning as necessary so that all sides are dark. Dice the charred pineapple into 1/4” squares.

Place the charred pineapple, ginger, garlic, sugar and 3 cups white wine vinegar into a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced about halfway. Add the jalapeño and cook for another minute, then add the diced pineapple. Refrigerate until cold. Top with scallions.

 

For the Cucumber Salad:

Sprinkle the cucumber with salt and allow to drain in a colander for approximately 30 minutes.

Transfer cucumber to a bowl. Pour 1/3 cup white wine vinegar over it. Add watermelon radish.

 

For the fish and assembly: 

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan until it spreads easily when tilted. Drop the fish filets with a paper towel and place skin-side down in the pan. Cook about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until just cooked through. When you press on the fish, it should be moderately firm in the center.

Distribute the fish on the flour tortillas, top with the cucumber salad and charred pineapple relish.

 

Per serving: Calories 416; Fat 8 g (Saturated 2 g); Cholesterol 31 mg; Sodium 345 mg; Carbohydrate 29 g; Fiber 3 g; Sugars 45 g; Protein 18 g

from Healthy Eats – Food Network Healthy Living Blog http://ift.tt/2rXb8kI