Cookbook author, TV chef and restaurateur Zahra Abdalla is in the midst of a kitchen renovation. Grilling fish outdoors (despite the heat) has been an easy way for her to feed her family one of their favourite and nutritious meals
For the past couple of years, my husband and I have been toying with the idea of renovating our kitchen. We would watch endless hours of interior design shows for inspiration, but never felt ready. Honestly, the idea of living in our house during a renovation project seemed very daunting. In addition, we could never decide on the ideal time of year for the work to begin. Finally, this summer we made a conscious decision not to travel on holiday and took the plunge to make the most of the time we were spending in Dubai by designing the kitchen of our dreams. At the time of writing this, we are half way into the renovation. Overall our experience has been smoother than expected.
Our friends thought we were quite adventurous to take on such a task while still living in the house. But the entire experience has been fun and I think it has reinforced a sense of gratitude and excitement in us. A week before the renovation was due to start, I went through all my cabinets to determine what I wanted to keep, donate and discard. After that we set up a simple make-shift kitchen near the entrance of the house, which included breakfast, live-cooking and food-preparation stations. Cooking in such a small area would, no doubt, present its own obstacles, but we were eager to tackle any situation that arose.
My challenge during this period has been to limit the number of take-away meals and cook most of our food. I wanted to show my kids that whether we had a fancy kitchen or a simple set up, we could always eat healthy and delicious fare. I also wanted to reinforce the key message that a mindful approach in our actions can make anything and everything possible. It has all boiled down to planning and prepping in advance.
Overall, my storage space has become quite limited – I find myself shopping for groceries almost every day or every alternate day. Simplifying recipes and using quality ingredients has made life easier.
In general, my husband and I prefer to eat more seafood than other protein. Usually I would either bake, steam, grill or fry my fish depending on the variety. However, since our renovation has started we have been grilling most of our food, especially fish. Some of our favourite varieties are red snapper, sherry, sea bass and salmon, they are all delicious and easy to cook.
This grilled red snapper with mango salsa served with a side of mixed green salad is a simple and flavourful recipe that is perfect for lunch or dinner. You can swap out the red snapper for any other variety of white fish in season. There are two ways of grilling fish: either directly on the grill or wrapped in foil. Usually, I prefer the latter option; by cooking the fish in foil I can layer it with any of my favourite herbs and aromatics to elevate and infuse the flavours. The key advantage is that you don’t have to worry about the fish sticking to the grill – this definitely makes for a simpler cleaning process afterwards.
I hope you enjoy this recipe (see below) and I encourage you to be creative when preparing simple yet delicious food.
With love, Zahra
