SOMETHING FISHY IN BELIZE!

What do you get when you mix Central American food with Caribbean food? Tacos...coconut milk...and, as I found out for myself, something fishy. I got to baker two whole rainbow trout! I liked it.

I used two trout that were about a pound and a half apiece. They were gutted; but, I cooked them with the heads on. First, I mixed some chili pepper, black pepper, celery salt, minced onion, paprika and garlic powder. This mixture was rubbed liberally on both the outsides and insides of the fish. Then, I diced a tomato, a green bell pepper, and a small onion. Even though the fish were already seasoned, I ground some more black pepper on them. I cut a large piece of foil, put the fish on it, and stuffed it with the diced vegetables. I repeated the process with the other fish. I wrapped them nice and tight in the foil. The oven was preheated to 400 degrees, and I cooked the fish for twenty minutes.

I cooked some Jasmine rice to go with it, and made a large avocado and tomato salad. I quartered ten vine ripened tomatoes. I peeled 4 ripe avocados with a potato peeler, halved and pitted them. The oven was already hot, so I just put the rack on the top shelf, and turned on the broiler. I placed the avocados on a baking sheet, flat side down, and drizzled with olive oil, squeezed the juice of one lemon on them, and ground some pepper over them. These were broiled for 45 seconds. A red onion was then diced, and placed in a separate bowl . The juice of another lemon was squeezed over the onion, and salt, pepper and some olive oil were added, and mixed. Lay the quartered tomatoes out on a large serving platter. Line the avocado up on the tomatoes, and scoop some of the onion mixture into each half. This is a LOT of salad, so leftovers are almost assured.

The result? I enjoyed the fish; but, got heartburn from the onions in the salad. My wife enjoyed the salad, but not the fish. It was too fatty for her. It may have worked better if I had used fillets, and still baked the fish in foil, with the vegetables. It may also have been better if I used another kind of fish, such as snapper. Each person is different; and, not everyone enjoys the same kind of fish. In fact, there are many people who simply do not like fish, or seafood. I know! Crazy!

That's it! Enjoy!