Mahi Mahi with Avocado and Brown Rice

As my wife will be happy to tell you, my cooking is usually filled with bold flavors. We routinely plow through garlic, onions, and a variety of seasonings with aplomb. Occasionally, though, the mood hits me for something a little lighter and more delicate. Heck, I'm sure even Bobby Flay makes a salad from time to time.

Such is the mood that drove me to prepare this dish, a lightly sauteed fillet of mahi-mahi with vegetables, avocado and my new favorite brown rice.

This pile of grub was perfect for a summer(ish) night after work. Let's start at the bottom with the brown rice, which as I've just mentioned, comes courtesy of Good Eats. The next layer is the vegetables, which consists of a sauteed julianned onion mixed with a few handfuls of bagged cole slaw mix (thrown in at the last minute so the sauteeing process doesn't render it to mush). Next comes a bed of sliced ripe avocados seasoned with a pinch of kosher salt. Top with a mahi-mahi fillet sauteed in a little oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. Finally, squeeze a little fresh lime juice over the top and serve steaming hot.

You don't need to add the lime twirl on top unless you're entertaining for guests or taking a picture for a food blog.

Voila, a light and flavorful meal on the table in a little over an hour.

I normally don't like to use bagged salad mix, but with cabbage I make an exception. It's clean, convenient and the cabbage is durable enough to stay fresh despite the processing. Besides, a whole head of cabbage yields about 6 gallons of shredded produce. I'll take the added processing and cost over wasting 98% of a head.

The mahi-mahi comes courtesy of the freezer section of my local Costco. I'm still amazed at the incredible variety of frozen fish available there. For a landlocked foodie like myself, it's the closest thing I'll get to living at the beach. I know, pretty pathetic.

The whole meal is 11 points (5 for 1 cup of rice, 1 for 1 teaspoon of oil in vegetables, 2 for 1/4 avocado and 3 for the fish and oil).

Update 6/16/06 - This photo was entered in this month's Does My Blog Look Good in This photography contest!