a yummy substitute for maccas: fish and chickpea salad

I’ve recently been looking into the ways food can provide energy. My unfortunate reality is that the foods I absolutely adore often leave me feeling bloated and sleepy. (I completely understand and love the Spanish idea of a siesta after lunch.) It often seems like a good idea to have a delicious steak sandwich with caramelised onion and tomato relish with a side of hand cut chips and garlic aioli but afterwards I often just want to go to bed.

Given that my lifestyle doesn’t lend itself to napping whenever I want to, I’ve had to make some changes. Recently I’ve started shift work at a cinema. As far as part time jobs go, it is definitely the cream; the perks are fantastic, and the work itself seems to attract people one would voluntarily spend time with. The problem is, when working a shift from 10am (a very reasonable starting time) to 5pm, if I load up on carb heavy foods on my break, I feel like my eyelids weigh about eighty thousand tonnes.

So, I have been researching recipes that will keep me full, give me energy and taste delicious. What I have found, not too surprisingly, is the land of fresh produce and lean meat is where I will find the food I need. The following recipe ticks all the boxes mentioned above and then some – it’s quick and easy and cheap to make. It is inspired from a recipe by Michelle Bridges who is a lady that really knows her stuff when it comes to nutrition.

Grilled Fish with Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

Olive oil
2 ling fillets (weighing approx. 100g each)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of pitted kalamata olives
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
½ a bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 cup Danish feta, crumbled
Juice of 1/2 a lime

Method:

Heat a large pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for about 10 minutes.

Add the spices and cook for a further two minutes, until aromatic.

Add the chickpeas and cherry tomatoes and cook for a further ten minutes, until the skins of the tomatoes start to peel off.

While the chickpeas are cooking, heat another pan with a little olive oil. Place the fish in the pan and cook for three to four minutes on each side.

Add the spinach and the olives to the chickpea mixture and stir through until the spinach has wilted. Add the coriander and lime juice and stir through.

Place a fish fillet on each plate and serve alongside the chickpea salad. Sprinkle with the feta and pour yourself a glass of red. Enjoy!

Serves 2

By Emma Robinson