I’m a huge fan of fish and my kids love it. We started them with salmon which is quite meaty; several ways we cook it regularly are as follows: salmon fillet cut to portion size for each person, place in a bowl and drizzle over a little sesame oil, vegetable oil and soy sauce. Literally a tiny dribble for each, you don’t need much. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and using hands or a spoon, stir the salmon fillets into the oil/liquid. Leave for 30 minutes or longer. Put the oven on quite high at this point. Get a pan (I use griddle but a normal frying pan is fine) and let it get quite hot…no added oil needed. Pan fry the fillet, flesh side to begin with then skin side. You’re looking for it to look golden i.e. a nice colour but it won’t be fully cooked. Place each salmon fillet onto a tray and bake in oven for approx. 5-10 minutes, depending on the amount of fillets. The fillet should flake apart and be opaque when cooked. Try not to over cook.

We serve this with either fried rice (if not fasting etc.) or boiled rice and noodles. Sharwoods fine noodles, boiled for a few minutes then drizzled with a little sesame oil and soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce. We steam broccolli and baby sweetcorn to go with it.

Second method which you can also use for fast days with loads of steamed veg is to wipe the pan with a tiny bit of oil using kitchen towel (I know lots of people use the oil spray stuff, it is so expensive so this method works just as well and you can count the calories by dividing the amount used i.e. 1/4 teaspoon divided by each portion cooked). Get the pan quite hot, pan fry your salmon, again, flesh side then skin side, squeeze over lemon juice in the pan (it may smoke a bit, be prepared) then remove fillets onto oven proof tray and bake.

For kids, get a white fillet of fish, cut into strips, dip into egg (add salt and pepper) then dip into breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in a little oil and then bake in oven to finish off. I serve this with baby boiled potatoes or mini baked potatoes, broccoli and peas.

SAMM, a couple of easy fish-cooking ideas:

Fish in a Packet:
Place a thawed frozen fish fillet on a piece of aluminum foil, top with 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice and 2 tablespoons chopped scallions and/or fresh herbs (chives or dill for mild-flavored fish, cilantro, thyme, oregano or rosemary for stronger-flavored fish) and a dusting of salt and pepper and maybe paprika, wrap up the foil into a packet and bake according to the time and temperature recommended on the package.

For Fish Salad:
Chop up your chilled leftover Fish in a Packet and mix with some low-fat yogurt, lemon or lime juice and more chopped fresh scallions and herbs, salt and pepper if needed. Chopped cucumber, bell pepper, or celery or grated carrot would be good veggies to add.

Whole Fresh Bronzino:
Place a sprig of fresh rosemary, oregano, or thyme inside; slash the skin every 1.5 inches or so; brush with olive oil and broil for about 7 or 8 minutes per side until cooked through (the only way to tell is by checking to see if the flesh at the thickest point is opaque). This is a fun project to eat, picking the flesh off the bones with the fish looking at you. You might want to perform the operation yourself in the kitchen before serving to a picky-eating child.

For Fresh Mackeral:
Cut into bite-sized chunks and stew with sauteed onion, canned diced tomatoes, and fresh Swiss Chard (stems chopped, leaves torn). Start the onion first, add the tomatoes when the onions are golden, after about ten minutes add the fish and the stems, five to seven minutes later add the leaves, in five to seven minutes it should be done, but check the fish to make sure.