Despite a visit to Marseille back in 2001, I have never yet had authentic Bouillabaisse. I did have a fish soup there and it was delicious. There are tons of recipes online for Bouillabaisse, but the sheer number of different types of required seafood means that you really can’t make it for less than a crowd (at least 3 kinds of fish plus a bunch of different kinds of shellfish). Someday, I may splurge and try my hand at it, but for now, I just content myself with a much simpler seafood stew that is easy to throw together.

The recipe below should work with any kinds of fish, but as with the Bouillabaisse, I always try to include at least 3 different types, and at least one should be a “steak” type of fish such as swordfish, salmon, or tuna, so that you can have some chunks that survive stirring. And of course these also tend to be high in those important omega 3 fatty acids, as is rainbow trout. (Pregnant women should avoid using swordfish due to the possibility of high mercury levels.)

Bouillabaisse and fish soups are usually served with a toasted slice of French bread spread with rouille. Rouille is a mayonnaise made with olive oil, hot pepper, and plenty of garlic. It usually also contains fresh bread pieces soaked in the liquid from the soup or stew and mashed into the mayonnaise. Being lazy when it comes to weeknight cooking, I take a shortcut by simply mixing fresh crushed garlic and hot pepper into store-bought mayonnaise. Since French Bread tends to be high in sodium, I replace the toasted bread with a couple of pieces of low sodium melba toast.

Got any leftovers? Add brown rice, cooked chicken, more shrimp, and a can of no salt added diced tomatoes, and you’ve got a jambalaya. If you can find a relatively low sodium sausage, your jambalaya will be even more authentic (for example, Thin ‘n trim  chicken sausages).

Seafood Stew

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 4-6 small to medium potatoes, cut into quarters (2 cups)
• 1 large leek, sliced
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 large bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of fresh dill
• 6 oz catfish fillet
• 6 oz swordfish steak (substitute tuna steak if you’re concerned about mercury)
• 6 oz rainbow trout fillet
• 6 oz raw shelled tail-off shrimp
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1 cup frozen white corn
• 1 cup frozen butternut squash
• 1 can low sodium cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 large or 1 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 1/2 tsps. cayenne pepper powder
• 2 tbsp. Jamaican curry powder
• 1 can tomato paste with no salt added
• 1 cup pineapple, cut in 1/2″ cubes
• 16 pieces of melba toast (2 per serving)
• 4 tbsp. mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Put the olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, sliced carrots, sliced leeks, and  3 cloves of sliced garlic.  Pan fry, stirring occasionally, and turning potatoes over, until potatoes start turning golden.
   
2. Add the broth, bay leaf, and dill. Bring to a simmer. Add sliced zucchini. Simmer 5 minutes.
   
3. Add the fish. Simmer 10 minutes.
   
4. Remove bay leaf and dill.
5. Add the shrimp, spinach, corn, and butternut squash. Simmer 6 minutes.
6. Add the mushroom soup, tomato paste and pineapple.
   
7. Add 1 tsp cayenne pepper and the curry powder.
8. Simmer 5 minutes or until heated through.
9. Make the lazy person’s Rouille: mix the mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, and the remaining garlic, crushed.
10. Spread the rouille on the melba toast and put 2 on the bottom of each bowl  (or one toasted thin slice of french bread).
    
11. Pour the soup over the toast and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Servings:	8
DASH Food Groups per Serving
Grains	Vegetables	Fruits	Milk Products	Lean meats, fish, and poultry	Nuts, seeds, and legumes	Fats and oils	Sweets and added sugars
3/4	2	1/8	–	3	–	1	–
Nutrition
Calories		Sodium
445		381 mg

Françoise

Related articles

• Bouillabaisse (angsarap.net)