Fish Tacos + Salsa Fresca

You mean I’m posting a recipe about something OTHER than the almighty chicken wing??? I know, I know. Long overdue. Somewhere along the line this blog took a detour from being an homage to diet-friendly recipes and became all about “Wing Wednesday”.

Sadly, I try new recipes almost every single evening but I don’t end up posting any of them! Every weekend I spend Sunday afternoons combing through Pinterest and my health mag subscriptions. I choose 5 new recipes to make for the upcoming week and even go out and buy all of the ingredients so I have no weeknight excuses about not being able to cook dinner.  Every night of the week I make one of these new meals. —  What the heck has kept me from sharing them???

Sigh…

Well… I suppose it boils down to the following:

1. I was probably too busy inhaling the food to take a picture of it.  Because, “hangry”.

2. It just wasn’t a very photogenic meal.  Hey – I’m not a professional food photographer. I can only do so much to make a dish look appealing.  If, ultimately, I don’t think I got any attractive photos of a meal then I won’t post about it. Visually unappealing food interests no one.  Sure, I could use the magazine photo but I feel a bit like a cheater doing that. (Maybe I’m just being silly…)

Anyhow, I promised myself I’d get back to sharing the joy of cooking new recipes.  So here we go!

Fish Tacos + Salsa Fresca, Photo Credit: Accounting for Taste

 

The beauty of making tacos is that they are endlessly customizable: shell, protein, produce, sauce – whatever you like and however you like it.  For this week’s fish tacos, you’ll need the following ingredients (makes enough for 2-3 people):

INGREDIENTS

For the fish:

• 1 lb. of fish fillets (I used cod but you can use whatever fish you’re in the mood for.)
• a few tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 a lemon or lime

For the salsa fresca:

• 1 cup diced tomato
• 1 cup yellow corn kernels
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 diced jalapeño (use the whole jalapeño if you like to live dangerously)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper (to taste)

For the tacos:

• corn tortillas (or flour if you prefer)
• sour cream (optional)
• queso fresco (optional)
• hot sauce (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

For the fish:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray a shallow baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or lightly drizzle with oil to prevent fish from sticking.
3. Place fish in the baking dish and drizzle the fish with olive oil to lightly coat.  Season with paprika, salt, and pepper.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon (or lime) juice over fish after you remove it from the oven.

Fish Tacos + Salsa Fresca, Photo Credit: Accounting for Taste

For the salsa fresca:

1. Add all of the salsa ingredients in a bowl and gently toss to combine.

Fish Tacos + Salsa Fresca, Photo Credit: Accounting for Taste

For the tacos:

1. Gently break the cooked fish filets into smaller pieces so that you can build your tacos.
2. Warm the tortillas in the oven for a few minutes (optional).
3. Place a few pieces of fish onto the tortilla. Top with salsa fresca, sour cream (optional), queso fresco (optional), and hot sauce (optional).
4. Enjoy! You should have plenty of salsa fresca left over to enjoy for the next few days! You can top baked chicken breasts or pork with it as a dinner option for another night of the week, add it to a salad, or just enjoy it with some tortilla chips for a glorious snack.

Fish Tacos + Salsa Fresca, Photo Credit: Accounting for Taste