This meal is probably the best one we have that rates equally high on kids’ appreciation (5 out of 5 across the board) and on health benefits. I used to make fish in packets by thawing the fish first but finally worked out how to do this whole meal directly from frozen fish by using frozen edamame. It’s much easier this way.
Apparatus
- aluminum foil
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 frozen filet of mild fish (we most often use tilapia) per person
- 100 g frozen shelled edamame per person
- salt & pepper
- olive oil (optional)
- 1 lemon, halved and sliced (maybe 2 if you have 6 or more people to feed)
- 1 tomato, halved and sliced (maybe 2 if you have 6 or more people to feed)
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
- some herbs (we like any mix of tarragon, thyme, chives, and rosemary)
Directions
- Lay out 1 piece of aluminum foil per person; put a square of parchment on each. Put one fish filet on each.
- Spoon frozen edamame around each filet. Add a bit of salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, if using.
- Put slices of lemon, tomato and garlic on fish, along with herbs.
- Bring together edges of aluminum foil along the length of the fish; fold or roll, crimping edges so it’s sealed. Then roll or fold up ends. You want everything inside to steam, so fold it to prevent steam or liquid from escaping.
- Place fish packets on a baking sheet to make it easier to get the whole meal in and out of the oven.
- Bake at 425F until fish flakes easily with a fork and edamame are cooked. For us, this typically takes 45 minutes for frozen tilapia filets that are each 100-125g. We test for doneness by opening up a middle packet slightly (watch out so you don’t get burned by steam) and pressing the fish with a fork.
- Serve with a grain if you like grains. We usually cook some brown rice and spoon it directly into opened packets so it gets coated in the lemony, tomatoey, garlicky, herby liquid.
Yield
However many servings of fish you choose to make.
Notes
Last time I made this, each serving used 113g tilapia and had: 243 calories, 9.2 g CHO, 5 g fibre, 34.1 g protein, 8.9 g fat. I wrote a detailed description of how I bolus for that meal here.
You can pre-prep the packages and put them in to cook directly out of the freezer.