Jerk Fish with Cucumber Salsa
and plantain chips / pineapple smoothie
The sweet, tangy, spicy marinade in this meal has previously been used to make Jerk Chicken, but the flavors go incredibly well with fish. To keep things simple and warm weather-friendly, we're serving the meal with cooling cucumber salsa and a fresh green pineapple smoothie.
Smarts: Be sure to dice the cucumbers into small pieces so that you'll get a bit of this crunchy salsa in every bite.
Ingredients
- Onions, medium and red - 1/4, diced
- Cucumbers - 12 oz, chopped
- Cilantro leaves - 1 Tbsp, chopped
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 2 tsp
- Oil, olive - 2 tsp
- Jalapenos (opt) - 1, sliced
- Jerk seasoning - 1 Tbsp (sub Cajun seasoning)
- Brown sugar - 1 tsp
- Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 1 Tbsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Fish, any white variety - 1 lb (like tilapia; sub any type of fish including other white fish or salmon)
- Limes - 1/2, wedges
- Plantain chips, store-bought - 6 oz
- Pineapple, frozen - 16 oz
- Baby spinach - 2 oz
- Bananas - 2
- Water - 1/2 cup
- Lime juice - 2 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Onions / Jalapenos - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Marinate fish - Combine jalapenos, Jerk seasoning, brown sugar, cinnamon, soy sauce, vinegar (portion for fish), and first part of cooking oil. Add fish and turn to coat. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Make cucumbers salsa - Chop cucumbers and cilantro. Toss together onions, cucumbers, cilantro, vinegar (portion for salsa), and olive oil. Let salsa sit for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Limes - Slice into wedges. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Make smoothie - Combine pineapple, spinach, bananas, water, and lime juice in a blender. Blend until smooth, adding more water if needed. Taste and add some honey (not in ingredients list) if you’d like the smoothie sweeter or some more lime juice if you’d like it tarter.
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Make
- Remove fish from marinade (discard marinade) and season with some salt and pepper.
- Heat a nonstick pan or skillet with second part of cooking oil over medium-high heat. Sear fish on both sides until flaky and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
- Give cucumber salsa a stir and drain off excess liquid. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Serve fish with cucumber salsa over top and lime wedges on the side. Enjoy with plantain chips and smoothie.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
39 reviews
We really liked it - unfortunately, the kids didn’t. I subbed paprika for jerk seasoning and used Trader Joe’s tropical frozen fruit for smoothie.
0 HelpfulWe liked this so much we’ve repeated it twice. The marinade also works well with chicken and we made the vegetarian version with firm tofu. Everyone loves this, even my fish - averse eaters will eat the fish with this marinade. The cucumber salsa and smoothie are good crisp and sweet sides especially on a hot day!
0 HelpfulThe marinade is AMAZING, but the instructions to marinade for up to a day worry me - you really shouldn’t be marinading fish (particularly flaky fish) for more than 30 minutes, as the acid in the marinade cooks the fish! Other than that, super easy and quick to prep meal. We didn’t make the smoothie so were starving afterwards...so will either make the smoothie or throw in a bed of basmati rice next time. (Edit: 2/3 cup basmati rice is plenty for 4 servings.)
0 HelpfulSubbed chicken for the fish and omitted jalapeno for the kids. The smoothie was a big hit.
0 Helpful