Fast Fish Tacos and Salsa

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Fast Fish Tacos and Salsa

17 Jul

Yikes, it has been unbelievably hot and humid here in New York. Every day it’s muggy and sticky and even thunderstorms don’t seem to cool it off. It certainly doesn’t make me feel like cooking at any time – morning, afternoon or evening. I also have difficulty breathing when it’s this humid, so it really limits what I can do when it’s like this (an after effect of my illness in 2009. You can see my other blog if you’re interested in more facts). The fact is, we have to eat something. There’s only so many nights you can get away with making sandwiches and even grilling can be too much in this weather. I decided to make a meal tonight that take almost no time at all to cook. You’ll actually spend more time preparing the sides than you will the main course. I have made fish tacos before, but this is a fast version of fish tacos from Williams-Sonoma.

Fast Fish Tacos

1 pound cod or other mild white-fleshed fish
fillets
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice from 1 lime
12 corn tortillas
2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
1 cup fresh salsa
Sour cream
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or fresh parsley

Directions:

Season the fish
Split the fillets lengthwise along the seam. Place the fish on a plate. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, oregano and salt. Sprinkle over both sides of the fish. Drizzle with the olive oil and lime juice.

Heat the tortillas
Preheat a cast-iron or other heavy fry pan over medium-low heat. On another burner, preheat a stovetop grill pan over medium-low heat. One at a time, warm the tortillas in the fry pan until flexible. Stack them on a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel.

Cook the fish and assemble the tacos
Increase the heat under the grill pan to medium-high. When the pan is hot, add the fish and cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook until golden around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes more, depending on type and thickness. Transfer the fish to a plate and cut into bite-size pieces.

Place an equal amount of the fish on each warm tortilla and top with shredded cabbage, a spoonful of salsa and a drizzle of sour cream. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley and serve.

You could use any white fish for this recipe. I used cod because it was on sale this week, but tilapia or flounder would work just as well. I served this with sour cream, guacamole, salsa and some shredded lettuce instead of cabbage. You could also serve this with some of the black beans and rice I made last week.

I made the salsa I used myself and it is also a quick and easy recipe. The tomatoes I have purchased from Adams Farms this year have been really good so I have been using them a lot lately in many different dishes. This salsa is very easy to make and it tastes great. It will work well as a dip for chips or a topping for tacos, quesadillas or even burgers.

Tomato Salsa

1 1/2 pounds firm, ripe tomatoes, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 cup minced red onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Juice of 1 lime

Granulated sugar, to taste

Set a large colander in a large bowl. Place the tomatoes in the colander and let them drain for 30 minutes. As the tomatoes drain, layer the jalapeno, onion, garlic and cilantro on top. Shake the colander to drain off the excess tomato juice. Discard the juice and wipe out the bowl.

Transfer all the contents of the colander to the now empty bowl. Add the salt, pepper and lime juice; toss to combine. Add the sugar to taste and serve.

You could make some substitutions here if you wanted. If you don’t care for cilantro (and many don’t) you could use fresh parsley instead. I have also omitted the jalapeno in the past and it still tastes great, so use it (or more of it) if that’s what you like. I have also used shallot before instead of red onion and it tastes just as good. You don’t get the bite that you often get with a red onion, but you get good flavor anyway.

That’s it for cooking for tonight. I had a bunch of bananas to use up with all this heat and got lots of ideas from people about different things to make, so I think tomorrow I will post some banana recipes that I really like. Check back and see what’s here. Until then, enjoy the rest of your evening, stay cool and enjoy your meal!