File
Grilled fish fillets with the right trimmings
make for an elegant meal.

Fresh fish is good
for the grill this holiday

Major holiday this weekend: Memorial Day. Synonymous with picnic. Which is synonymous with get-out-the-grill.

You could do hamburgers, ribs or steaks, but in keeping with today's theme of eating healthy, try fish. The supermarkets are helping out with good prices on some good-grilling varieties:

Fresh marlin fillets are $2.99 a pound at Safeway, $3.49 a pound at Star. Daiei has fresh ahi tombo fillets for $3.98 a pound. At Tamashiro market, ahi tombo and marlin fillets are both $2.98 a pound.

Crank it up a notch and try Copper River Salmon roasts -- $4.38 a pound at Foodland with Maika'i card ($4.99 without card), or 4.99 at Star. Salmon steaks are a buck more a pound.

The state's Ocean Resources Branch offers these tips for fish-buying:

For whole fish, allow 3/4 pound per serving; for cleaned fish, 1/2 pound per serving. For steaks, fillets or kabobs, allow 1/4 to 1/2 pound per serving.

Fish should smell fresh -- a faint sea odor is OK, but it shouldn't smell fishy.

Cook it the day you buy it, or ask the person at the seafood counter about shelf life.

Don't over cook. Once it flakes and turns opaque, it's done.

Finish your picnic with watermelon -- prices are down this week in honor of the holiday. Pick one up for 14 cents at Sack 'n Save with Maika'i card (29 cents without), 15 cents a pound at Foodland with Maika'i card (29 cents without), 19 cents at Safeway or Star, 25 cents at Daiei or Times, with Royal card (33 cents without).