Fish Tacos

Have you had fish tacos? Holy moly, I tried them on a whim a few months back at Bonefish Grill, and I am officially an addict! I can’t get enough! But I can’t go to Bonefish every night. I mean, I guess I could, but you know what I mean. So I scoured the internet and gave these a try. They are pretty darn awesome! And, it’s still Lent (how ya doin’ with that?) so this would be a perfect fish dish to serve.

I don’t know if your spring weather has been as warm and pleasant as ours has here in Central Virginia, but it’s hard to keep myself from thinking it’s May! Even if you’re only longing for a taste of summer, these are great! If you can eat them out on the patio with a margarita, all the better. If all else fails, keep this recipe in your back pocket, Cinco de Mayo will be here soon!

I know it seems like a lot of ingredients. And I guess it is. But you’re making your own salsa. If you don’t have time to do that, buy some prepared mango salsa and skip that part. Don’t stress. Cooking’s not fun when you stress.

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Lime Sauce

Recipe adapted from Carrie Floyd, from the Culinate Kitchen collection

Fish

• 1 lb. flaky white fish, I prefer a meaty fish like catfish or cod
• 4 T fresh lime juice
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T soy sauce

Sauce

• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup lowfat yogurt
• ⅓ cup light sour cream
• 2 T fresh lime juice
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or pressed
• Salt to taste

Tacos

• 10 to 12 corn tortillas
• 3 cups shredded slaw mix (red and green cabbage, carrots)

Mango Salsa 

Make one day ahead if possible.

•  2 bell peppers (red, yellow, and/or orange), deseeded and chopped into small dice
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced
• 3 just-ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped into small dice (underripe mangoes can be stored in a paper sack for a few days and will ripen)
• 1 bunch cilantro, washed, dried, destemmed, and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt to taste

Mix the ingredients for the salsa together in a medium-large bowl and season to taste with salt. Try to avoid stuffing your face in the bowl. The good news (the BEST news!!) is that you should have salsa leftover. It’s great on chips or on a salad the next day, if you don’t scarf it all up on taco night. I LOOOOOOVE mango salsa!

Prepare the fish marinade by combining the fresh lime juice with the vegetable oil and soy sauce in a rectangular glass dish. Add the fish, turn to coat, and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. While you may be tempted to do this the night before, or even hours ahead, don’t. Fish is a much more delicate meat than beef or even chicken. Too much marinating will leave you with a mushy disaster. Trust me.

Prepare the chipotle-lime sauce by combining the mayonnaise, yogurt, sour cream, lime juice, chipotle chile, and chopped garlic in a bowl. Season to taste with salt. A can of chipotle peppers in adobo should last you an eternity. You only need one for this recipe. Toss the rest in a freezer safe container and use them the next time you make this dish. Trust me, once you’ve had it, you’ll be begging for more.

Remove fish from the marinade and grill or saute until cooked through. Mr. Bundt was kind enough to man the grill while I got everything else ready. If you don’t eat them straight off the grill, don’t worry. They’re great at room temperature or even cold for the next days lunch.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave or on the grill. I cannot stress enough the importance of good tortillas. I know you may be at the mercy of your local supermarket, but if you can go to a Latin grocery or to a local Mexican restaurant and get some, you’ll be money ahead. A gummy corn tortilla, even warmed, is not good. Not good at all.

Set out individual bowls of the sauce, salsa, and shredded cabbage.

For each individual taco, place some of the fish (breaking off chunks of the cooked fillets) on a tortilla, top with slaw mixture and mango salsa, and drizzle with the chipotle-lime sauce.

And presto! Perfect fish taco! There are so many veggies in here I don’t feel like I even need to serve a side item. We have had them with the taquitos you can see in this post. But a light salad or some refried beans would be fine as well. We had them on the deck with margaritas and they were great!

Have you tried any new foods lately? Are you dying to get something on the grill? What’s the first thing you MUST cook when the weather gets warm? Can’t wait to hear your ideas!