There’s no denying that eating fish is good for you. One of the key reasons is that it’s a great source of polyunsaturated fat – in particular the omega-3 fats called EPA and DHA. These fats are help reduce inflammation, clotting, high triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood) and help keep the blood vessels flexible. They are a critical part of brain growth and visual and nervous system development. Some parents and teachers swear by fish oil as a solution to lack of concentration and unruly behaviour in kids although the scientific evidence is not so certain about this.

The Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand have a ‘suggested dietary target’ of 610mg per day for men and 430mg per day for women of long-chain omega-3’s.

I just had to take a photo of the delicious scallops I cooked on the weekend. I heated some olive oil in a small fry-pan and dumped them in along with finely chopped garlic, ginger and coriander root. “One minute each side, turn them over only once and don’t over-cook them,” the helpful man at my local fish shop ordered me. I obeyed the orders and they turned out perfectly. For NZ$15 we had a smoked kahawai and 12 scallops – more than enough for three of us to eat.

“When I was a kid, scallops just washed up on the beach,” my father-in-law reminisced. They don’t do that now so we headed off to what I think is the best fish shop in Auckland – Marsic Brothers in Glen Innes.

It’s great to buy fruit and vegetables in season. Right now we’re eating heaps of sweet corn. It’s so easy to cook: three minutes per cob (husk on) in the microwave. My son and I munch ours straight off the cob but my husband loves his smeared with butter and salt. He’s succumbed to skinny milk, cup-cake sized steak, couscous and lentils so I figure he’s allowed the odd indulgence!

Corn gets its rich yellow colour from the family of phytochemicals (natural plant chemicals) called carotenoids. Yellow, orange, red and dark green vegetables such as spinach, carrots, tomatoes and pumpkin get their colour from carotenoids. Corn is especially high in two carotenoids – lutein and zeazanthin. The macular region of the eye has a high concentration of these substances which implies that they play an important role in keeping our eyes healthy. It’s thought that they protect against light-induced damage to the eye and help prevent macular degeneration, cataracts and other eye problems.

The short answer is yes – you can eat mussels if you have high cholesterol. Mussels are low in kilojoules, cholesterol and fat. The little fat they do have is mostly healthy unsaturated fat with plenty of omega-3’s to help stabilise the heart muscle, reduce triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood), make arteries more elastic (which helps reduce blood pressure) and reduce blood clotting and inflammation.

Douse your mussels with butter, cream or other saturated fat and they will be more of a heart hazard than anything else. But if you eat them as we did at the Boat Shed Cafe in Nelson (northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island) – steamed with garlic, wine and parsley and served with a local pinot gris – your heart and your taste-buds will be very happy.

Last week we jumped on board the Pelorous Sound mail boat which chugs the length of Pelorous Sound three times a week delivering mail