Culinary Tastes Grow and my Menu's Continue to Expand

I love trying new foods but this was not always how it was.  Growing up I was really picky.  I didn't eat many fruits, didn't like many vegetables (mainly canned) and fish sticks were the extent of my seafood repertoire.  Since I love to try new recipes and try new foods when I'm at a new restaurant my tastes continue to grow and I love it.  Also in my effort to be more green, more healthy and eat less processed foods, canned vegetables are off my grocery list along with a lot of other processed items.  The only canned vegetables I buy are whole kernel corn.

Just this week I tried Dover Sole.  Although the recipe was bland, it was a very mild white fish and with the right sauce it will be good.  I did like how the fish was rolled around salad shrimp.  I'll be working on this recipe next week.

My favorite fishes (to date) are as follows.  I can't wait to add more to the list.

• Cod:  It started with beer battered but now I'll eat it any way.
• Ahi Tuna:  I love it rare with only slight grill marks.
• Halibut:  Very good mild white fish.
• Smoked Salmon: I'm still trying to totally win myself over with salmon.  I love smoked salmon especially the cold smoked salmon from Creekside Smokehouse in Half Moon Bay, CA.  From the grocery store I like Echo Falls Cracked Pepper Smoked Salmon. I have marinated fillets and grilled them or baked them in the oven and it was pretty good.  I purchased a smoker and smoked my first fillet a couple of weeks ago. It turned out great especially the salmon spread I made with the leftovers.  Salmon is a bit fishier than I like but marinades help and adding additional ingredients like when you make salmon cakes or spreads.
• Butterfish: It is also known as a dollarfish, shiner, skipjack, sheepshead, or harvestfish. It is closely related to a number of fish, including black cod, sablefish and Chilean sea bass.  I tried this for the first time in Hawaii and it was melt in your mouth good.  My attempt didn't turn out as good but I'm not discouraged.  I will try again.
• Dover Sole: Good but you need a great sauce because Dover Sole doesn’t have much flavor. Mild white fish.
• Catfish:  I bought this on accident at Costco.  I meant to buy Talapia.  I didn't like the recipe I tried with it but I later just fried the fish and it was pretty good.  I'll give it another try with a new recipe.

Various types of fish is only one of the things I'm adding to my grocery staple list.  Since I have removed most processed foods, adding more new foods makes me feel that my food choices are not being limited but instead they are growing. 

• Soy Milk:  I had tried it before but heard it either affected a woman's hormones and I didn't want that.  Now I read that this really isn't the case.  I think it is like the egg, one year it is good for you, one year it is bad.  As long as I don't over do it, adding it to my diet every now and then won't hurt me and in fact I think it will be good for me.  Variety is the spice of life after all.  I purchased the low fat, regular version (not vanilla).  I didn't expect it to be sweet or have much of a flavor but it did.  I think the vanilla flavor may be too sweet because this did have a touch of vanilla flavor.  The oddest thing was that it was beige in color.  I'm eating it on my morning All Bran cereal and it is yummy!
• Almond Milk:  This is like a sweet treat.  It wouldn't be something I would have with a savory dish, like dinner (same goes with the soy milk) but it is a nice sweet treat.  Adding the Chia seeds to it makes for a nutritious sweet snack.
• Chia Seed:  Put 1 tablespoon in a cup of Almond Milk, let sit a few minutes and drink.
• Liquid Aminos:  Substitute for soy sauce.