How fresh is your fish?

How fresh is your fish? - When eating fish, freshness is vital. Jon Alexis from TJ's Seafood joins Good Day with tips on what to look for and what to avoid when you're at the market.

1. Your Nose Knows - Fresh fish doesn't smell! If you can smell the fish counter before you see it, turn around. Fresh fish fillet should have no odor, or smell faintly of the sea. Aging fish will have a "funky" smell.  Even older, it will smell like windex or bleach.

2. Take A Shine To It - Think about paint finishes. Fresh fish should have a nice gloss to it, like glossy paint. As it ages, it loses that gloss, more like a matte finish paint.

3. Push Back! - When touching a fresh fillet of fish, it should have a little resistance and "push back" when you touch it. Aging fish loses that texture and is soft and mushy.

4. Blood Never Lies - Many fillets of fish have a "bloodline" where an artery ran through the flesh. This should be nice and red. It will start to brown. A little brown is ok, all brown is older. (Tuna is an exception, because the flesh is red the bloodline will appear brown while the fish is still in great shape)

5. Get The Whole Picture...With The Whole Fish - If you can see the whole fish, several parts of the fish will tell you if it's fresh. The gills should be red (not gray or brown). The skin should be glossy and appear "wet". Same with fillets - if you push the flesh it should bounce back.

6. The Eyes Don't have It - Clear eyes have been mentioned as a good test. Ironically, this is the least reliable! An unfresh fish will usually have cloudy eyes, but often times a fresh fish will too. Why? Two reasons - when caught, change in water pressure can change fish eye appearance, and contact with ice can make eyes cloudy. So don't miss a fresh fish because of a cloudy eye.

Quinoa Primavera

1 lb tri-colored quinoa, boiled and well-cooled
1/ 2 bunch kale, chopped and cleaned
1/4 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 zucchini, medicum dice
1/2 squash, medium dice
4 oz. Italian dressing of your choice  
salt (and pepper) to taste

Cook quinoa per instructions. Transfer to pan. Cool thoroughly. Halve tomatoes, remove veins from the kale and medium dice other vegetables. Mix all vegetables in a bowl with cooled quinoa, dressing and adjust spices as desired.

LINK: tjsseafood.com