Seafood is a hot topic. Think sustainability, farmed vs. wild, mercury levels, small fish vs. large fish, color coded eco-labels, country of origin, genetically modified and more. It’s enough to make your head swim.

But there’s one thing that stands out among all the politics and policies: seafood is good to eat and is good for you. Okay, that’s two, but I’ll take a win-win where I can get it.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, here’s how you can get hooked on seafood:

Lent begins tomorrow. If you’re giving up something for Lent, why not give up your fear of eating seafood? Lent is the perfect time of year to eat your recommended 2x per week seafood allotment. In fact, go ahead and GASP! eat it 3 times per week.

Your seafood eating plan? Feb 22 through April 5 gives you 14 different opportunities to eat seafood during that time, if you follow the 2x per week guidelines. Think of it this way; there are over 30,000 seafood species in the oceans. Seems pretty easy to find 14 that you might like, right?

“But I don’t know how to cook seafood,” you might be whining.

No problem. Retailers and  quick-service restaurants, like Wendy’s and McDonald’s, and casual dining, like Red Lobster, are adding seafood options on their shelves and menus for Lent, according to SeafoodSource.com. Fast-casual not for you? Well, if you can afford to eat at the local independent restaurants, this is the time to try something new. And I’m positive the Chefs in the fine dining sector will be offering fresh, tantalizing seafood choices.

If you need a recipe, go to the search box on the top right of this page, search word “recipe.”

So tomorrow for Lent, go ahead, get hooked on seafood.