Somehow as I’ve gotten older, the number of pills I have to take has grown. I even had to get a weekly pill holder to keep me on track. In the mix are calcium and vitamin D, vitamin B-12 (I’m mostly vegetarian), and a blood pressure pill. So understandably I am resisting taking omega-3s. Plenty of good reasons to take them, including reduced heart disease risk and inflammation. But I don’t want to add another pill, omega-3 fish oil and my stomach don’t like each other, and I would rather eat my omega-3s in food.

Pill box

A handful of foods supply omega-3s, mostly fatty fish such as salmon and a few nuts and seeds (walnuts and flax are best sources). My go-to fish for home cooking, steelhead trout, also is high in omega-3s. Farmed steelhead also gets a thumbs up from Seafood Watch for being raised with environmentally sound best practices. I buy my steelhead from Costco, cut it into half-pound fillets, wrap it in plastic wrap, vacuum-pack it, and freeze the packets. When I want to use it, I remove the plastic wrap (unless I forget, which is a bad idea), season the top, and cook it straight from frozen and skin-side down in the oven or on the grill. It’s especially good on the grill because the skin sticks to the grate while the fillet lifts off easily. Indy the geriatric dog loves the skin so it’s win-win.

pistachio salmon 2

A local seafood store, Mt. Kisco Seafood, generously shared its recipe for pistachio-crusted salmon and it works great for steelhead trout too. Rarely content with leaving a recipe as is, I tinkered with this one too. It’s really easy and really yummy, and the pistachios hold up nicely to the heat. I used salt-and-pepper flavored pistachios and they were excellent! The recipe works with walnuts too but at a slightly lower temperature since their smoke point is lower.

pistachio salmon 1

Nut-crusted steelhead trout
Serves 4

2 1/2-pound fillets steelhead trout or salmon, skin on

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup chopped pistachios or walnuts

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F or prepare a charcoal or gas grill.
  2. Place the fillet skin-side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread with the mustard, using more if desired. Top with the nuts, pressing them onto the mustard. Lightly salt if the nuts are unsalted.

pistachio salmon 3

3. Bake or grill until fish flakes easily with a fork or sharp knife, up to 30 minutes. Cut each fillet into 2 pieces and serve.