Orange Roughy and Summer Salsa (with a side of fruit)

I love summer. Fresh veggies and fruit from the farmers' market, and it's a good excuse to eat lots of salad with tons of goodness. The goodness being fresh ingredients of all sorts. I heart salad....and find that if you add enough to the lettuce base, you often don't need dressing. I used to NEED tons of dressing to enjoy my greens, but no longer.

1 pound Orange Roughy (this is a very flavorful white fish, by far my favorite of the white)
Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium, ripe mango
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup diced jicama (optional)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and Pepper

Mixed salad greens

**1 chayote, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cube

If you've never had it before, chayote is kind of like a squash of sorts. It looks similar to a pear in shape and size, but the ends are kind of turned inwards like an old guy without teeth....it's hard to explain. I just peeled and chopped the chayote...then put it in a small saucepan, covered with water, sprinkled in a little salt and simmered on medium heat until done....about 12-15 minutes or so. You can start the chayote first, if you'd like, and then do the rest while it's cooking. If you don't want to do the chayote it's no big deal....I just put it on top of my greens along with the salsa...but it's not necessary.


Peel the mango (While the chayote is cooking) and dice small. I like to peel the whole mango with a paring knife, then slice the fruit off on either side of the pit...then cut off whatever remainder I can salvage from the pit. Slice the two sides into two flat pieces, and then dice small. Add this to a bowl. Dice up the avocado (cut in half and remove pit. Then cut vertical and horizontal lines into each half of the avocado. Scoop out cut pieces with a big spoon and add to bowl). Add in the red onion, bell pepper, cilantro and stir together. Add in the jicama if you want. It adds a nice crunch...but if you buy some I'd recommend buying a big one. I bought a small one thinking I wouldn't use much, but it ended up tasting very starchy and potato-like....no bueno. Add lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle the orange roughy with cajun seasoning. I use about a teaspoon total since it's pretty flavorful. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the fish. Cook until opaque underneath, about 3-4 minutes depending on thickness of the fish. Flip over and continue cooking until done all the way through, about another 3-4 minutes or so. After the fish is cooked, pile some greens on each plate, top with fish, salsa, and chayote if you like!! (On the above picture, the chayote is the larger-diced veggie sitting on the greens just above the big pile of salsa). Enjoy your meal with some summer-fresh watermelon, or your favorite summer fruit!

**For those of you living in a household where not everyone follows a paleo diet...I feel your pain! For the non-paleo eaters in my home I offered corn tortillas to make this into fish tacos instead of the salad as I ate it above. Two birds with one-ish stone....SWEET!