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Navigating the high seas

I had a hot date Friday night with my husband.
We went to one of the Madison area's premier seafood establishments, Captain Bill's in Middleton.
The old joke about the "seafood diet" goes something like this: "When I SEE FOOD, I eat it!"
Not me. Not anymore.
Seafood is a healthy choice, however, if you pay attention to how it's prepared and served.
Wisconsin's traditional Friday night fish fries? I can't handle them anymore. Grease and beer-batter made me nauseous even before I began to be intentional in making calories count.
Door County style boiled fish? Love it! The trouble is, I'm several hours away from Door County, and I know of only one restaurant in Madison -- the Avenue -- that serves Door County style fish. And it's only available on Fridays, when the crowd spills out onto East Washington Street and the wait for a table can be several hours.
Lobster, crab and shrimp? Expensive. But a boiled or broiled lobster tail is a healthy choice as long as it's prepared with, and accompanied by, lemon instead of butter. Shrimp is very good, especially in a stir-fry, and I have a recipe for shrimp calzones, which are an occasional treat in the months when it's OK for the oven to heat up the house. Likewise with my stuffed crab manicotti recipe.
These were my choice at Captain Bill's:

  • Dragon fire salmon. It's a hot-and-sour entree, marinated in hoisin sauce and topped with a pico de gallo consisting primarily of pineapple. The meal came with "seasonal vegetables," which turned out to be several varieties of sliced squash.
  • House salad, less fattening by far than the New England clam chowder that Jay had. The salad is simple but satisfying, with spring greens, fresh veggies, no cheese or croutons and not a leaf of iceberg lettuce (yech) in sight. They even put a couple raw shrimp on it. I got raspberry vinaigrette dressing in a cup on the side, and dipped my greens into it. (Confession time: I also had some of the warm sourdough bread -- but instead of butter, I dipped it in the dressing, too.)
  • For the side, rice pilaf. It was a nice mix of brown and wild rice, and the portion size was just right.
  • For the beverage, water and Diet Coke. 
  • For dessert, a Dannon Light and Fit strawberry cheesecake dessert yogurt, at home.

Here we are at our table. A nod to the host at the restaurant for taking the photo with my phone.
I recommend Captain Bill's. I recommend the dragon fire salmon. And I recommend making reservations. especially on Friday night.








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