Fish Tacos

It's SUMMERTIME AGAIN! This means, maybe I can take a stab at this whole blog thing again.

When summer comes, I'm suddenly inspired to be crafty & creative in the kitchen!

I suppose it gives me a purpose since I'm not working throughout the day.

Yesterday, was my FIRST "official" day of no work. I celebrated by trying a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. I had a little summer TACO party with my friend, Ashley!

[Let me warn you: this was a highly involved dinner. Probably not something you'd want to do on a week night, but it'd be great for a summer party]

First, I prepared a Grilled Pineapple/Avocado Salsa!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 serrano chile, minced
• 1 avocado

Putting it ALL Together:

Preparation

• 1. Preheat grill to high heat.
• 2. Combine oil and honey, stirring well. Brush oil mixture over pineapple. Place pineapple on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from grill; cool 5 minutes. Chop. Combine pineapple, onion, and next 6 ingredients (through serrano); toss gently.
• 3. Peel, seed, and dice avocado. Add avocado to the pineapple mixture, and toss gently.

Another topping I made was a Cabbage Slaw. It gave the tacos a fresh, light flavor.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced radishes
• 1/2 cup diagonally cut green onions
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• Putting it ALL together:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients; toss. Sprinkle with mint, salt, and pepper.

Finally, I made the actual Fish Tacos. The recipe in Cooking Light used Halibut, but I realized that Halibut is expensive! So I used Tilapia. It work perfectly. After I cooked the fish, I warmed some small wheat flour tortillas and served them up.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 (6-ounce) halibut (or tilapia) fillets
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 12 (6-inch) small whole wheat tortillas

Putting it ALL Together:

• 1. Place first 5 ingredients in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Slowly pour oil through food chute;
• process until smooth. Place fish in a shallow dish; rub mixture over fish. Cover and chill 2 hours.
• 2. Preheat grill to high heat.
• 3. Sprinkle fish with salt and black pepper. Place fish on a grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from grill. Break fish into chunks. Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish evenly among tortillas.

They were DELICIOUS!! Again, I got all of this from the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

Now, I'm off to plan dinner for tonight!