Healthful halibut salad for grill

By Kathy Manweiler

Grills get a workout in the summertime, but they can take a break from hamburgers and hot dogs with today’s recipe.

The American Heart Association recommends that most people eat at least two servings of fish each week, but many of us — including me — don’t always follow that advice.

So I started searching for a recipe that would help me meet that goal this summer. Tomato and bread salad is one of my favorite meals, and I thought it might work well to toss some fish into that dish.

First, I wanted to find a healthier marinade for fish. The original recipe I liked for halibut included a generous amount of olive oil, but I found that adding some white wine vinegar to a fraction of the oil kept the flavor I wanted while trimming calories and fat grams. That switch cut the calories by 27 percent and slashed the fat by 48 percent.

If you don’t want to use halibut in this recipe, another mild white fish such as cod or tilapia would make a good substitute.

My version of tomato and grilled bread salad is inspired by a Martha Stewart recipe. I lightened up the original dressing recipe by cutting the amount of olive oil in half and drizzling in some extra red wine vinegar. Instead of brushing the bread with olive oil, I lightly coat it with some cooking spray. My changes reduced the calories by 24 percent and sliced off 45 percent of the fat.

Stewart’s recipe calls for country bread, but I prefer ciabatta. Any coarse-textured, good-quality bread works best for this salad.

You can have a serving of my tomato and grilled bread salad with halibut for 444 calories and 20.4 grams of fat.

KATHY’S TOMATO AND GRILLED BREAD SALAD WITH HALIBUT

For halibut:

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon salt

1 pound fresh halibut

For salad:

1‚Ñ2 pound ciabatta bread, cut into 3‚Ñ4-inch thick slices

4 cups diced tomatoes (or whole cherry tomatoes)

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1‚Ñ4 cup loosely packed fresh basil, torn into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking spray

Salt and pepper to taste

To make halibut: In a bowl, whisk lemon zest, juice, olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, oregano and salt until mixed. Transfer marinade to a shallow baking dish and add halibut, thoroughly coating the fish with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat a grill or a grill pan to medium. Remove halibut from marinade and place on grill. Cook the fish 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until halibut is opaque throughout. Let the fish cool slightly, then cut into bite-size pieces.

To make salad: With the grill still heated to medium, lightly coat the bread slices on each side with cooking spray. Grill 3 to 4 minutes on both sides, or until bread is lightly charred. Let the bread cool slightly, then cut it into large cubes.

In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the tomatoes, cucumber and basil. Gently fold in the pieces of fish. Drizzle with the red wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and serve.

Per serving: 444 calories, 20.4 fat grams, 42 carb grams, 36mg cholesterol, 615mg sodium, 4.3 fiber grams, 30 protein grams

XHalibut adapted from a Good Housekeeping recipe. Tomato and grilled bread salad adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.