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Janesville woman's white fish is a winner

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Linda L. Simon

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

Linda Simon prepares ingredients for a simple fish recipe that, although easy and fast, won a grand prize in a contest.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Linda Simon chops and mixes mushrooms and breadcrumbs for a simple fish recipe that, although easy and fast, won a grand prize in a contest.

JANESVILLE — Now that Linda Simon has won her first recipe contest, she plans to enter more.

"It was a lot of fun. I would encourage anyone to enter," said the 54-year-old Janesville registered dietitian.

"If you go online, Google recipe contests, it's amazing all the different ones going on. Pick one and give it a shot," Simon said.

That's what she did this spring when 75 members of the American Dietetic Association's Food and Culinary Professional practice group participated in the 2008 "Fast, Fresh & Flavorful," recipe contest sponsored by CanolaInfo.

Nutrition requirements were strict, and few of Simon's recipes met the criteria that it use least 2 tablespoons of canola oil; include 12 or fewer ingredients, and be low in calories, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol.

So she fine-tuned her recipe, which she titled "Mushroom Crumb Tilapia with Tomatoes." She said they must have changed the name to "White Fish with Herbed Duxelle" to make it sound more gourmet.

For Simon's recipe to meet criteria, she boosted her recipe size to serve six instead of four.

"I chose the recipe because it would meet nutritional requirements and it was a recipe I like. It's wonderful. I love it," she said.

It didn't take Simon long to perfect her recipe.

"I've been a (certified) personal chef for nine years. I have this whole bunch of recipes pretty much ready to go. So it wasn't like I looked at criteria and started working. I went to my recipe files and tried to find what would work," she said.

She won the grand prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to the American Dietetic Association's annual meeting at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago in October plus $1,000.

She knew in June that she'd won but couldn't tell anyone.

"I was excited, thrilled,'' she said.

Simon's recipe is published in the 2009 CanolaInfo calendar and is online at www.canolainfo.org.

But that isn't all.

Because of her win, Simon was selected as the dietitian for the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness and will write a monthly column.

"All of the details are not determined," she said.

Meanwhile, she's going to be whipping up recipes to enter in a chocolate and King Arthur flour contest.

RECIPE FOR WHITE FISH WITH HERBED DUXELLE

White fish with herbed duxelle (mushrooms)

By Linda Simon, registered dietitian

1 8-ounce package fresh mushrooms

1 shallot finely chopped

4 green onions chopped

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 can 14-ounce crushed tomatoes

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 pounds white fish

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1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a food processor, mince mushrooms until finely chopped. In a large dry saucepan, cook mushrooms over medium heat until the moisture is gone and mushrooms are lightly browned. This takes about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add shallots, green onions, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.

4. Spread crushed tomatoes in a lightly oiled 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Stir in balsamic vinegar. Place fish fillets on top of tomatoes. Spoon duxelle (mushroom) mixture over fish, covering fillets.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork and the mushroom mixture is lightly browned.

Yield: six servings.

(Nutritional analysis based on six servings: 240 calories, 8 grams total fat, 1.5 grams saturated fat, 55 milligrams cholesterol, 350 milligrams sodium, 17 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 27 grams protein.)