Recently, J announced she wanted to follow a pescatarian diet. This meant no meat or chicken, only fish and plant-based protein. This wasn’t a huge change for us, as I rarely cook red meat at home to begin with. But that said, I wanted to find different ways to incorporate fish into her diet. You may notice a theme in all the recipes I share – mix and match. I find these recipes do the best in our house since everyone’s tastes are different. Instead of trying (and failing) to make one dish that satisfies everyone, allowing people to choose their own toppings and mix-ins has been huge. This way I don’t feel like I am running a kitchen, and there is less complaining about the meal. Win-win in my humble opinion.
If you are not familiar with poke bowls, you are missing out. Truly. These bowls, which originated from Hawaii, are typically prepared with a rice bottom, raw fish, vegetables, and an amazing sauce. I use cooked fish only, as J isn’t a fan of raw. But if I was to make this for Hubby and me, I would definitely add some sushi-grade tuna. I will share below what I put out, and some other suggestions for you to include. Feel free to omit or add anything that appeals to you or you have laying around your fridge.
A note about the rice. I use Korean short-grain rice because that is what I have in my house. Years ago, my Korean mother-in-law taught me how to make rice with a rice cooker. It involves rinsing the grains to remove some of the starch, and using enough water to come up to your knuckle. Truly though, any type of rice would do. If you don’t have a fantastic mother-in-law proficient in rice making as I do, I would suggest following the instructions on the package you buy.
Recipe rundown:
- Cooked rice (approx 1/4 cup per person)
- Sauce
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- dash of sesame seeds
- Protein
- I love using PC salmon burgers in this recipe. I oven bake them or fry in my cast iron skillet and then cut them up
- Cooked shrimp
- Immitation Crab
- Toppings
- Avocado
- Edamame (I use the pre-shelled frozen ones!)
- Shredded carrots
- Cucumbers (I marinate mine in a bit of rice vinegar and salt)
- Seaweed Salad
- Dried seaweed
- Spicy mayonaise (we use a store bought mayo but you can always mix some regular mayonaise with siracchia to taste)
In case you are reading this and thinking “there is no way my kids would eat that”… let me tell you – J eats all of it with the exception of the spicy mayonnaise. N, on the other hand, only eats rice, dried seaweed and his weight in edamame. So please don’t feel bad if your bowls don’t look like these. Do what works for YOU! Have any other topping suggestions?? I’d love to hear them!
This is life. Love, Mom.
Life Love Mom 