tacos, tacos, everywhere

Now, I'm not claiming to cook anything "authentic," but I love Mexican food.  Mexican food is so easy to make healthy by including fresh ingredients and tweaking the normal toppings slightly.  So, I set out last week to make fish tacos and, let me tell you, they were a success.  So much so that I was asked to make them again for dinner last night.

I started off my making a greek yogurt "crema" to take the place of the normal sour cream.  I love greek yogurt because it's so versatile.  It can be sweetened up and eaten with fruit or left in its normal form as a tangy substitute for sour cream or mayo in recipes.  To make the crema I combined greek yogurt, a seeded jalapeño, a handful of cilantro, a green onion, and the juice of half a lime in a blender and let it spin!

I heated some coconut oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

Coconut oil is kind of a new discovery for me.  I was originally worried it would make my food taste like a tropical island, but it really doesn't have much of a taste.  It's a saturated fat, which would lead you to believe it is unhealthy, but it is a great substitute for other saturated fats.  I won't go too far into it, but it's been linked to everything from blood sugar regulation, to metabolism, to Alzheimer's treatment (people also use it on their skin and in their hair... that just freaks me out.  Not gonna happen, but feel free to try it and let me know how it goes for ya!)  I don't believe everything I read on the internet, but I do know it's a healthy fat and it's good to use when cooking at high temperatures.  You could easily use any other cooking fat, or even cooking spray, but I had it on hand so I said what they heck.

I seasoned my fish (I used tilapia since it's an inexpensive white fish) with salt free fajita seasoning and red pepper and seared it for about 3 minutes on each side in the pan.

I cut the fish into bite-size pieces and let the taco assembly begin.  Spread some of the greek yogurt crema on a low carb tortilla (I used "La Tortilla Factory" because even though they are low carb I can pronounce all the ingredients in them!  I compromised with the fiancé and bought a pack of normal flour tortillas for him to use).  Top with some pre-shredded cabbage, the fish, some red onion, and some avocado and chow down!  I also topped mine with siracha, because I'm a spicy food fanatic.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Fish Tacos with Greek Yogurt Crema
(for 2 servings)
2 tilapia filets
red pepper
salt free fajita seasoning
1 tbs. coconut oil
4 low carb tortillas (I used "La Tortilla Factory" low carb, high fiber tortillas)

crema:
1 c. greek yogurt
1 jalapeño (seeded)
1 green onion
juice from 1/2 lime
handful of cilantro (about half a cup)

possible toppings:
shredded cabbage
red onion
avocado
salsa
siracha

1.  Combine the ingredients for the crema in a blender and blend until smooth.  You may want to play around with the proportions to get it to a consistency that you like.

2. Pre-heat pan over medium-high heat and add the coconut oil to heat it.

3. Pat tilapia dry with a paper towel and season both side of tilapia with the fajita seasoning and red pepper to taste.

4.  Add the tilapia to hot pan and don't move it! Let it sit for about 3 minutes on the first side, flip, and let it sit for 3 minutes on the second side.  That's it... it'll cook quickly.

5.  Transfer the tilapia to a cutting board and cut into bit-sized pieces.

6.  Assemble your tacos: spread about 2 tbs of the crema on the tortilla, top with shredded cabbage and fish.  Finish your assembly as your wish (I like mine with red onion, diced avocado, and siracha)

This will also work well with any other white fish.  I made some shrimp to go along with it and it would be GREAT with mahi mahi, I just went with the fish I already had in my freezer.

There you go... my very first recipe and hopefully the beginning of many more to come!  I'm a newbie at this, so let me know your thoughts, suggestions, all all that business!

Hope you enjoy,
Ky