Last night I made the cilantro-chipotle tilapia and Mexican pineapple salad I had planned for Monday, before I realized Monday was a holiday and I’d be at the movies when I’d normally be making dinner. That is the joy of using frozen fish a good bit of the time – I can postpone recipes as needed. I rarely move the fish from the freezer to the fridge in the morning to allow it to defrost (this isn’t strategy, I simply forget). And it’s never a problem because you can defrost most seafood in a flutter right before you cook with the following three steps:

1. If the fish is vacuum-packed, remove plastic

2. Stick seafood in a strainer in the sink

3. Run cool water over it until it isn’t hard anymore

You might think increasing the water temp a bit will speed things up, but make sure the water is cool or the fish can start to cook.

The dish, by the way, was unique. I tire quickly of leafy salads, and don’t believe I’ve ever personally purchased jicama, so the salad was a nice departure. Most of all, it complimented the spicy fish superbly. Every bite I took involved salad and fish on the fork.