Easy Awesome Meal

Last week I was wracking my brain for dinner ideas.  It seems like BF and I eat the same things over and over again, just in a different order each week.  Not that we eat badly, it's all really good food but our classic dishes were getting a bit stale.

Who knows where the idea came from, but while I was working away at my desk a thought poppped into my head, "Fish tacos".  My second thought was, "I have never made fish tacos and I also don't want to fry anything or use heavy, expensive ingredients that I have to buy". 

I put the idea away and assumed I'd figure something out for dinner later.  When I got home I rummaged through the refrigerator and cabinets to see what we had on hand and I ended up coming up with a pretty easy recipe for fresh fish tacos.

Here are the ingredients you will need for everything I made:

2-4 cod fillets (frozen or fresh are fine, or substitute a white fish you like)
lemon- large
lime- large
cilantro- chopped
spring onion or red onion
yellow sweet onion
red bell pepper (or any other color
green bell pepper
2 roma tomato
cumin
crushed or minced garlic
sea salt
pepper
avocado
light or fat free sour cream
mayo
red pepper powder or chile powder
1 can of pinto or black beans
tortillas (we use whole wheat)
shredded cheese- optional


Here is how to prepare:

Combine the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a lime, 1-2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped spring or red onion (both work well).  Pour over your cod filets and let marinate for about 30 minutes. 

After marinating, strain fish from marinade and sprinkle lightly with cumin (I like to use a lot since I like that warm heat).

Cook your filets over medium heat in a non-stick saute pan.  I usually add a little of the marinade solids to the pan as well so the fish cook in more of the flavor- just use a teaspoon to scoop out some of the garlic and cilantro and add that to the pan.

The juice wasn't added, it's just what's coming out of the fish from marinating

While your fish cook, cook your canned beans (pinto are my favorites, but BF love black beans) on medium low in a small sauce pan.


I make two toppings for this dish, a homemade pico and a tangy avocado cream dressing.

I start with the pico; you can use a food processor, but I just chop mine up by hand.  Chop 1/4 of a yellow onion, 1/4 of a green bell pepper, 1/4 of a red bell pepper, 2 roma tomatoes and 1-2 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro.  I mix it all up and then let it sit while I prepare the rest of the meal so that the flavors meld but are still fresh.

My homemade Pico

Then I mix up a tangy avocado dressing.  Scoop out 1 large avocado and put into a blender or food processor.  Add juice from the remainder of your lemon and remainder of your lime.  Add about 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, a pinch of pepper, a tiny sprinkling of red pepper powder or chile powder, 1 dollop (maybe about 2 teaspoons) of mayo and 4 or so ounces of non fat or light sour cream.  Blend well until you have a creamy, fluffy light green mixture.

Once the fish and beans are done, you are ready to go!  Just build your taco however you like.


Besides the avocado dressing and the pico, I add a tiny sprinkling of shredded skim cheese.

I don't think it takes me more than 25 minutes to make the dish since I usually defrost and marinate the fish earlier in the day.  You can also substitute the fish with chicken breast as the same spices and marinade works well with both!