Editor's note: Numerous reports have been issued stating families who dine together on a regular basis tend to be healthier and children in such families are at lower risk of experimenting with drugs or alcohol. Through this occasional column, Lifestyle hopes to make it easier for families to eat together by providing simple, nutritious recipes.

Fish can seem like a touchy dish to prepare.

What seasoning works with it? What fish tastes fishy? Should I bake it, broil it or fry it? How do I know if it's done?

Jeff Stauffer, seafood buyer for Stauffers of Kissel Hill, says making seafood can be easier than you think.

You can make a tasty fish dish for your family on a Friday night within 30 minutes.

Consider this recipe:

SALMON FILET WITH WASABI PEA CRUST

1½ pounds fresh red salmon fillet, cut in 4-ounce portions
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ cup wasabi peas, crushed
2 pounds fresh snow or snap peas
12 ounce bag of petite baby carrots (microwaveable)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly oil a baking dish or pan.

Place salmon in the baking dish and lightly cover with thin layer of mayonnaise. Sprinkle crushed wasabi peas on top of the mayonnaise.

Bake approximately 20 minutes.

Wash and rinse the fresh peas, place in a steamer with the petite baby carrots. Steam until hot, but only slightly tender. (Be careful not to overcook the fresh peas).
Serves 6

The hardest part of this recipe is remembering to buy the ingredients at the grocery store, but don't get too hung up on details. You can improvise a little.

For starters, you don't have to use red salmon. Wild or farm-raised salmon can be used, as well as char.

Wasabi peas, which can be found in the bulk food section of Stauffers, can be crushed in a food processor. Better yet, put the kids to work and let them crush the peas with a rolling pin.

Stauffer says you can use the pale green wasabi peas, but he likes the smaller multicolor peas. Try what you like.

If you've never tasted wasabi, sometimes called a Japanese horseradish, be prepared for a hot zing of flavor. The peas and fish will mellow the zing.

Real wasabi, by the way, is probably not what's coating the peas. The rare, hard-to-grow root of the wasabi plant is expensive, so the flavor tends to be duplicated in a combination of horseradish powder, mustard powder, cornstarch and artificial flavoring, according to the Washington State University Cooperative Extension.

The recipe calls for the fish to be baked in 30 minutes. You can do your own timing and checking by cutting into the thickest part of the filet to see if translucent flesh has become opaque.

For the side dish, Stauffer recommends steaming carrots and peas together. If you don't have a nifty steamer, you can steam them in a kettle or in the microwave.

If you choose to use larger carrots than the recipe calls for, steam them longer than the peas, Stauffer advised.

OK, so we realize this could still sound difficult if you're not used to working with fish and aren't familiar with wasabi peas. But it will give you something to talk about at dinner.

What is wasabi anyway? If you don't want to be serious, the word lends itself to playful imagination. And how many kinds of fish can you name?

Or you could try one of these topics suggested by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at www.family.samhsa.gov/get/m...:

• Ask everyone to share their favorite part or biggest challenge of the day.
• Share your own childhood memories.
• Discuss an activity the family can do together.
• Talk with your children about a book they are reading or a movie they have seen. "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish," perhaps? Probably shouldn't talk about "Finding Nemo," though.... you might not have willing eaters.

Linda Espenshade's e-mail address is lespenshade@lnpnews.com.