Healthy Mexican Recipe: Fish Mixiote with Parsley
Adapted from a blog by Otro Stylo for Yahoo! Mujer
A mixiote is a traditional, pit-barbecued meat dish from Central Mexico which can also (luckily!) be prepared in an oven. It is usually made with mutton, rabbit or even chicken and seasoned with chiles and other spices including cumin, thyme, marjoram, bay leaves, cloves and garlic. It is then wrapped in small packages made out of the tough, semi-transparent outer skin of the maguey (or century plant) leaves which give the dish a unique flavor.
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Even if you don't eat much fish, you'll want to prepare this easy, colorful and unique recipe as soon as you can. You can use tinfoil to wrap and cook the fish if you don't have access to maguey leaves. For a well-rounded and healthy meal, serve over a bed of brown rice and grilled vegetables.
Yield: Serves 4
Total time: 1 ½ hours
Level: Easy
Ingredients:
1 ½ handfuls of parsley
8 fish fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
¼ onion
2 tbsp bouillon powder
Water, as needed
Maguey leaves or aluminum foil
Preparation:
Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, then rub with crushed garlic.
Combine the previously washed parsley leaves with the onion, bouillon powder and a bit of water in a blender, making sure that the mixture is not too watery. Keep blending until everything is perfectly mixed.
Cover the fish fillets with the parsley mixture; let marinade for 10 minutes.
Soak the maguey leaves in water until they soften. Drain.
Cut one of the maguey leaves into thin strips.
Roll up each fillet and place two of them in the middle of each maguey leaf, close the leaf into a wrap, and tie the ends with one of the strips to secure the bundle. Place in a dish that fits into a larger tray filled with water in order to create a double boiler or water bath.
Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F. Serve immediately.
