Fish Taco Time

When I think 4th of July, I think fish tacos.

Ok, I totally don't. But I do think of hot weather and beach holidays, and I really can't imagine visiting a beach without some grilled seafood. One of my favorite fish-eating formats is the fish taco. You have your fresh grilled fish, a cool crisp cabbage, some spicy crema, whatever salsa-like mixture you can conjure, smooth avocado and a soft tortilla to deliver this deliciousness to your hungry mouth. Plus, it's a thrifty way to fit in seafood, a healthy way to have lots of flavor, and a relatively fast and easy dinner or lunch. I made these last week before the weekend bbq-ing commenced.

Fish, itself:

2 filets tilapia

olive oil for grill pan

Salt and pepper

Lime

Rub a grill pan with olive oil and get it super hot. I throw a droplet of water on and when it sizzles, it's time for the fish. Grill tilapia sprinkling with salt, pepper and 1/2 juice of one lime. Turn once the edges start to turn white and repeat sprinkling. The fish should flake easily and you will lose some to the grill pan.

Guac-lite: Avocado + lemon juice + salt

Salsa: 2 tomatoes (from our patio!) + cilantro + 1 scallion + lime juice

Buena Faux-Crema

1/4 c. plain yogurt

Juice of half a lemon

1 garlic clove, grated

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Cabbage Salad

3 cups shredded green or red cabbage

1 radish, sliced thin

1 carrot, shredded

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle of cumin

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Low fat tortillas

Ok, so here's where the easy part ends. Even though the thrifter in me knows I'm not saving money, I like to try my hand at making tortillas. I found this Low Fat Tortilla Recipe, and modified it.

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. white corn flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Mix the dry ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup stir the olive oil and water together. 1 Tablespoon at a time add the wet to the dry, stirring to combine. You will find yourself with a very sticky dough. Cover with a damp paper towel and set aside for 20 minutes.

Pull off golf-ball sized chunks of the dough, roll into balls and set on a plate, not touching. Cover with another damp towel and let rest another 10 minutes.

On a very well-floured surface, roll out each ball. Keep the dough moving and definitely keep adding a little flour as you go. Get the tortillas as thin as you can. I'm not going to lie, this is the hard part.

Heat a nonstick pan and add vegetable oil or olive oil. Sacrifice your first tortilla to soak up the grease. Now you're ready to fry the tortillas. Just add rolled out rounds to the pan and when they start to look un-dough like on the bottom, flip them. These move quickly and you don't want them to cook too much because you want *soft* tacos and they can become stiff. The whole roll and fry process takes me about 30 minutes. I usually finish it up as I'm grilling the fish and I make the sides before I get my hands doughy.

Put it all together and there you have it: summer in a soft tortilla.

Ready for mas? You'll have some tortillas left over. Save them and leftover "fixings" for an easy brunch:

Scramble eggs with scallions + tortilla + avocado + spicy crema + tomato + extra scallion

Lunch, The Sequel

I'm a big fan of previews. Before a tv show is even over, I'm already excited for the "Scenes from Next Week," anticipating the next plot twist. (I'm also one of those people who actually likeswatching all those trailers at the movies. I know, weird.) In the same way, lunch leftovers can often get me excited about new recipes that offer their own plot twist. Rather than eat the same-old same-old each day, I try to incorporate leftovers into my lunch plans, usually as a salad, or better yet to make a dish that can transform into something entirely new the next time lunch comes around.

So today when I opened a trusty can of chickpeas, I thought not only about the immediate plan for a salad with "chim-me-churri" dressing, but about what I'll do with the leftovers. Can you guess? Stay tuned to find out. No spoilers here!

And in the meantime, here's a quick, flavorful and healthy lunch option for a hot day.

Chimichurri, Chickpea and Radish Salad

Chimichurri is a South American sauce that usually includes cilantro as well as the parsley featured here. I had a lot of parsley to use up from our CSA shipment, so I skipped the cilantro. If you want to add it in, use about 3:1 parsley to cilantro. While it's usually eaten with grilled meats, I think I'll eat just about anything with chimichurri and chickpeas can always use a flavor-packed boost.

1 scallion (or 1 small onion)

1 c. parsley

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1 can chickpeas

Romaine lettuce

2-3 small radishes

In a mini-Cuisinart, pulse until well mixed the scallion, parsley, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Combine this mixture with the drained chickpeas.

Wash and tear romaine lettuce. Sliced radishes into thin disks. Dress salad with olive oil and lemon juice.

Scatter half of the chickpeas on top of salad mixture.

Reserve the other half of the chickpea mixture.

To be continued...

Tally:

Healthy lunch in minutes

Heat-less cooking for a steamy day

Chickpeas offer great protein at a low price

Chimichurri...best.topping.ever.