Fish Tacos - The Low Sodium Way

My cousin Liz (Jill, at the time) posted her fish taco recipe a few (like six!!) years ago.  It has been a favorite in our house ever since.  Rory wanted to have them the other night so I set about making them low sodium.  It wasn't difficult.  The high sodium portions are the tortillas and the mayo but I made both of those from scratch so no problem!

I'll list the ingredients in bold in the actual recipe ... There's a few steps but they are easy and I'll put them in the order I recommend ...

Put rice in rice cooker (or cook on stovetop)  I do two cups of rice. 

In a bowl, mix ¼ cup lime juice, 1 TBLS water, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp chili powder.  This is your marinade.  Cut flakey white fish (I do two fillets for our family of four) (and I use Snapper) into into taco-sized pieces, about 1 ½” x 2 ½” (thin pieces work best).  Add to marinade and let stand.

Mix ½ cup homemade mayo,  ¼ cup cream, 1 clove garlic, and pepper to taste. You can add 1-2 Serrano chilies, seeded too if you want, but I don't.  Liz blends all this in her blender but I don't mind it chunky so I just mix it with a spoon.  Pop it in the fridge until you are ready to serve. 

I made the dough for the tortillas in the Thermomix but you could mix it by hand.  370g flour, 180ml lukewarm water, 40g olive oil, 1 tsp sodium free baking powder.  Add to TM bowl, blitz speed 5 for 10 seconds.  Knead setting for 2 minutes.  Tip dough out, roll into big ball then divide into 8 equal portions.  Roll with rolling pin and set aside.  Fry in hot, dry (no oil) flying pan for 1-2 minutes or until it bubbles, then flip.  The second side never takes as long.  AND the first tortilla never works!  (Roll out a tiny one to be 'first one' that goes in the trash!)

In shallow bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp sodium free baking powder and 1 tsp chili powder. Add water until a thick batter forms.

When your rice is finished cooking, mix in the juice of one lime and a handful of fresh coriander.

You can decide whether to cook the fish or tortillas first.  I had help ... Rory cooked the fish while I cooked the tortillas.  If I had to do it on my own, I would have cooked the tortillas first.

Fry tortillas in a preheated (on medium low heat), dry (no oil) flying pan for 1-2 minutes or until it forms bubbles, then flip.  The second side never takes as long.  AND the first tortilla never works!  I always make a tiny one to be 'first one' that goes in the trash.  Place tortilla's in a stack under a clean tea towel until ready to serve.

Grab your marinated fish.  Dredge each pieces in flour then coat liberally with batter and shallow fry (you can deep fry but I never do!) until golden. (It is okay if your fish does not get completely opaque, if your pieces are thin enough, the lime juice will have already cooked them) Drain on a paper towel.

To serve ... top tortilla with rice, fish and sauce.  I often sprinkle with extra coriander.  And Rory adds Sriracha to his.

Chargrilled Salmon with Asparagus in a Lime Vinaigrette

I got this recipe out of the same delicious magazine as the fish recipe.

I made a couple of changes ... here you go with my modified recipe:

salmon fillets. i used 2 big ones for the four of us.
olive oil (to cook fish)
bunch of asparagus
grated zest and juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tbls capers ... I used ones in salt ... DON'T do that !! Way too salty !!
a couple of cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
fresh tarragon, finely chopped

Rory always cooks the fish on the BBQ with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper.  He does that while I get the rest of the stuff ready ...

Meanwhile, roast asparagus in oven. (10/15 minutes).

Top asparagus with remaining ingredients. Season.

Place fish on plates. Top with asparagus mix.

I served this with greek croustade.

Fish Vegetable Bake

I meant to post this recipe many moons ago...but it seems I never got around to it.  This was one of the only ways I liked fish when I was a kid and I still love it. 

Ingredients

-          4 medium to large potatoes, peeled and sliced

-          1 large carrot, sliced ¼ inch thick

-          1 small onion, sliced ¼ inch thick

-          2 Tablespoons butter, melted

-          1 teaspoon dried dill weed

-          1 teaspoon dried basil

-          ¼ teaspoon salt

-          ¼ teaspoon pepper

-          16 ounces of favorite white fish (I love Swai), thawed

-          1 small green pepper, sliced

-          2 teaspoons lemon juice

-          2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped (or one can of chopped tomatoes)

 

Directions

Place potatoes, carrot, and onion in a casserole dish.  Combine melted butter, dill weeds, basil, salt, and pepper.  Spoon half of the butter mixture over the vegetables.  Cover and bake in a 425-degree oven for 25 minutes.  Place fish on top of vegetables in baking dish.  Add green peppers.  Combine lemon juice and remaining butter mixture and spoon over fish.  Cover and bake about 15 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with fork and vegetables are tender.  Uncover and add chopped tomatoes.  Return to over and bake about 5 minutes more or until tomatoes are hot. 

Serves 4

 

 

 

 

Grilled Salmon Salad

The wonderful thing about Salmon is that all four of us love it.

The same with salad.  Salmon and salad together ... for our family ... it's a match made in heaven!

This salad was such a hit!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and used it as our base recipe.
I added some stuff, changed the type of cheese and served it differently though ...

Oh, and I changed the measurements because I wanted it to serve four instead of two.

500g fresh salmon
6 cups fresh spinach and rocket (arugula)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
thin slices of red onion, as little or as much as you like
fetta cheese, to top salad
croutons, to top salad

dressing:
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar (I didn't measure and may have used a heaped teaspoon!)
3 or 4 small garlic cloves, crushed
pinch of salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Throw all of the dressing ingredients into a glass jar with a lid ... shake it up.  Add additional salt to taste.

Grill salmon.  Rory did ours on the BBQ with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. 

Combine all salad ingredients in large salad bowl.  Top with grilled salmon, chopped into large chunks.  Drizzle with dressing.

Brown Sugar, Lemon and Orange Salmon

This was delicious !

We love salmon around here and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it.

This was simple.  And tasty.  We'll have this one again for sure.

I based my cooking on this recipe but I added a bit, changed quantities, and didn't use it as a 

marinade but rather just reduced it down to be a nice thick sauce to pour on top !

2 salmon fillets (we ate 1/2 each)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 a fresh lemon - it was quite a big lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 spring onion, chopped small

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh ginger, minced (to taste)

juice of one orange

a few drops of sesame oil

Place all ingredients, besides the salmon, into a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until your desired thickness is met.  This took maybe 5-10 minutes for mine.  Stir and taste while cooking.  You may need to add more lemon, do this to taste ...

Cook salmon as you prefer.  Usually we BBQ but last night we cooked them in a bit of olive oil, with salt and pepper, in the cast iron fry pan.  

I topped each piece of salmon with a slice of fresh avocado, the sauce and a sprinkle of spring onions.

So yummy.

Homestyle Ceviche

Nicaraguan Ceviche is delicious and fairly different from the ceviches I had had in the past. Most ceviche dishes are simple fish with lime and I find them rather bland and overly acidic. This is the version I was taught to make by my sister-in-law, Maryuri. I hope you enjoy it and can forgive my total guesswork on the actual amounts of things; it's hard to put an amount to "nearly all the small bottle of salsa inglesa." Oh, and a note on the fish: what I use is called corvina in Spanish. My translator tells me that's either sea bass or a "large edible fish." I'm guessing any white fish you like would work just fine; no need to buy fresh, I use frozen and thaw it. Ok on to the recipe!!

CEVICHE

1 lb fish
7 or 8 small limes
3 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup culantro (or cilantro or coriander or whatever it's called where you are)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 T Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco (to taste)
Saltine crackers

Chop thawed fish into bite-sized pieces. Add enough fresh lime juice to totally coat the fish with a good bit extra, let sit for 20 or so minutes, at some point, add salt. While the fish is "cooking," chop all your veggies. Once the fish is totally opaque, add the veg, culantro, Worcestershire and Tabasco. Stir, taste, and adjust seasoning to your preference. Serve with crackers.

Serves 4.

My dashingly handsome assistant

Asian Dinner

I'm not sure this fits into the catagory of necessity being the mother of invention...but invent tonight I did - and it was a grand success! I have this little quirk that I have a hard time eating something I have recently thrown up...its been YEARS since I've eaten alphabet soup. But I digress. Tonight's menu plan was just a little too close to my Thanksgiving Eve puke-fest prior to emergency gall bladder surgery...ANYWAY. I invented the following...and boy was it yummy!!


Asian Broccoli/Cauliflower
Bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower. Cook per package directions. Sprinkle on a little bit of soy sauce and a small dab of butter. Melt the butter and serve.

Asian Roasted Carrots
Preheat oven to 375. Peel enough carrots for your family. Cut into short, thin sticks. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray (regular would probably work fine too). Lay carrot sticks out in one layer...I tried to not have them touch so they would cook quicker. Spray the top of the carrots lightly with the cooking spray and then drip a tiny line of sesame oil over the carrots. Sprinkle top of carrots with sesame seeds then mix the carrots up a bit and lay them flat again. Bake the carrots until they are soft enough for you. I baked mine approximately 20 minutes, shaking the pan after the first 10 minutes. Serve.

Asian Grilled Fish
Place fish (I used swai) on a double layer of tin foil. (one piece of piece per foil packet) Mix a small amount of sesame oil and peanut oil and spread over the top of the fish. Flip fish over so oil gets on the tin foil. Flip fish back over so bottom of the fish gets a coating of the oil. Slightly fold up the edges of the foil layers so that the next bit of sauce doesn't spill onto your counter. Mix a bit of (the amounts are dependant on how many pieces of fish you have) rice vinegar and soy sauce together. Spread enough on the fish to thoroughly coat. Flip fish and coat the other side. Sprinkle top of fish with sesame seeds. Fold two sides over the fish and then fold the remaining two sides to create a packet. Grill on high for approximately 10 minutes. Open the packet(s) and put the whole thing in the oven on broil. Broil for a few minutes until the sesame seeds have toasted a bit. Serve. The fish basically steamed in the packets on the grill, so the fish was very moist and yummy.

Veggie Fish Bake

Veggie Fish Bake

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

4-6 medium to large potatoes, peeled and sliced approximately ¼ inch thick
4 medium to large carrots, peeled and sliced approximately ¼ inch thick
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced approximately ¼ inch thick – separated into rings

Spray large baking dish with Pam (I used olive oil Pam).
Layer potato slices in the bottom of the dish. Next, evenly spread the carrots and then the onion rings over the layers of potatoes.
Melt 2T of butter and stir in 1t of dried basil and 1t of dried dill weed. Sprinkle butter mixture over veggies. Evenly spray another layer of Pam over the veggies. Cover and bake until potatoes feel like they are approximately 15 minutes from done. (I baked them for approximately 40 minutes)
Meanwhile, melt 2T of butter and stir in 1t of dried basil, 1t of dried dill weed, salt and pepper (I used white pepper cause I like it best), and 3t of lemon juice (I didn’t feel like squeezing fresh, so used the bottle and it turned out fine).
When the potatoes feel like they are getting close to done, place four fish fillets (your favorite white fish…can’t remember what I used!) over the veggies. Spread the second batch of butter mixture over the fish. Recover and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the fish is flaky and done.
Meanwhile, chop two medium tomatoes (I chopped mine rather small). When the fish is finished, sprinkle the tomatoes over the fish. Recover and return pan to the oven for 5 minutes.
Serve.
DELISH!!! EVERYONE in the family went back for seconds!! My mom used to make this when I was a kid (only fish recipe I recall liking as a child!), and I stumbled upon it the other day when looking for meals I could eat while on my post-gall bladder surgery restricted diet. It was such a hit that it's going on the make again soon list! :-)

Tempura

Rory made tempura cod last night. It was delicious ! Following the instructions on the back of the bag, he did it like this ...

4 pieces of cod
125g tempura batter mix
180ml cold water

Whisk the water and batter mix together. Do not over mix (it's ok to have a few lumps). Coat the fish and shallow fry in hot oil until golden brown and fish is cooked through. (ours took about 15 minutes, cooking all four pieces together in the same cast iron fry pan)

We had leftover batter too so Rory chopped up a zucchini and did them as well. They were super yum !

We squeezed fresh lemon juice onto the fish and served with tartar sauce.

Also pictured: Sesame Asparagus and Basil Zucchini Mini Muffins

Salsa Fish Packets

Salsa Fish Packets

Favorite White fish (we've used Tilapia and Swai)
Favoite Salsa
Optional: pickled jalapenos

Place fish on a piece of foil (big enough to fold into a packet - we use a double layer of heavy duty foil).

Top fish with favorite salsa.

Optional: place single line of jalapenos along top of fish.

Fold foil closed into a packet.

Grill packets on high for approximately 10 minutes (or until you open packet and fish is flaky and done).

Enjoy!

My Lemon Thyme Fish

The photo isn't much to look at but this simple piece of fish was absolutely delicious.

I used Basa, but any white fish will do. I did one piece per person.

Whole Lemons

Lemon Pepper

Fresh Thyme

Garlic, Thinly Sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 400F/200C. Lay each piece of fish on individual sheets of tin foil. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto each piece of fish, sprinkle with lemon pepper, garlic slices and plenty of fresh thyme. Top with lemon slices. Wrap up. Put in oven for about 15/20 minutes ... or until cooked through.

Fish Baked on a Bed of Spinach

1-2 T olive or canola oil
small onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
5 oz fresh or 4 oz frozen spinach (thawed and drained) PER PERSON
1 4-6 oz fresh or frozen and thawed fish fillet PER PERSON (such as tilapia or red snapper)
1/4-1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1-2 T low-fat sour cream
1/2-1 tsp dried parsley (1/2-1 T fresh, chopped)
pinch ground nutmeg
salt and pepper (optional)
bread crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 F. In skillet, heat oil. Add onion and garlic and saute until golden brown. Stir in spinach and cook 2 minutes (fresh will wilt, frozen will heat through). Transfer spinach mixture to baking dish (13"x9" if serving 4) or divide among individual ovenproof dishes. Place fillet(s) on top of spinach, cover dish(es), and bake 8-10 minutes until fish is almost done.

Meanwhile, warm stock, then combine with sour cream, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. When fish is almost done, uncover baking dish(es), pour sauce over each fillet. Top each, if desired, with bread crumbs. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, 2-3 minutes more.

The Fish Taco Verdict

A week ago, I'd never had a fish taco.
I've now made them TWICE !

I've gotta tell ya, I'm glad my parents made me eat whatever they put in front of my face and that I grew into a person who will try just about anything. I draw the line at brains and things still alive. BUT ... had I not grown up all over the world, eating new foods and discovering many culinary delights, I may not have tried this. I mean, seriously, fish AND taco ?? Together ?? Nah. BUT ... I did try it and I love it !!! My cousin Jill invented this recipe and I'm so glad she did ! My whole family is. The kids love this ... although, Alia prefers her in a bowl with the tortilla on the side, and we make the kid's batter a bit less spicy than ours ...

Here's take one ... last Sunday night.
I made the batter and I did not do a good job of it.
It was watery.
As well, I forgot to dip the fish in the flour before the batter.
Sometimes I get so excited, I forget to read the recipe thoroughly !
It was still delicious ...

But tonight ...

Uh, yeah, Sunday night again ...maybe a tradition is starting (??)
we made them again only this time Rory did the batter.

And he did a better batter.

He didn't forget the flour.

And it was even more delicious !!

If you haven't tried these, you should ... I'm serious.

Don't let the fish and the taco scare you off.

PS ... the recipe looks complicated, but it isn't ... as long as you don't get too excited !!

Jill's Fish Tacos

It's only fair to warn you that this is an original recipe and all the amounts are my best guesstimate. I hardly ever measure anything unless I'm baking. But I trust that everyone reading this recipe is already a competent cook and will forgive me!

Although the idea of fish in a taco is weird, stay with me, these are amazing blow-your-hair-back yummy!

Ingredients:

Fish – I used Dover Sole, but any mild flaky white fish will work

Corn Tortillas

¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

½ tsp chili powder

Water

Flour for dredging

Oil for frying

Marinade:

¼ cup lime juice

1 T water

Pinch salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chili powder

For the sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise (real mayo, no miracle whip of nastiness)

¼ cup half and half or cream

1 clove garlic*

1-2 Serrano chilies, seeded

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup short grain rice

1½ cups water

1-2 T fresh cilantro, chopped fine

2-3 T Lime juice

Salt

Step 1:

Cook rice and water on high until it begins to boil, then turn it down to low heat and cook for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Add cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

Step 2:

Cut fish into taco-sized pieces, about 1 ½” x 2 ½” (thin pieces work best). Mix marinade ingredients and add the fish pieces. Let stand.

Step 3:

Put all the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If desired, you can add some parsley or cilantro to the sauce. Put in fridge.

Step 4:

In shallow bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and chili powder. Add water until a thick batter forms.

If you have a deep fryer, skip to step 6.

Step 5:

Heat about 2” of oil in a skillet. Put on a jacket.

Step 6:

Dredge the fish pieces in flour, coat liberally with batter and deep fry until golden. (It is okay if your fish does not get completely opaque, if your pieces are thin enough, the lime juice will have already cooked them) Drain on a paper towel.

Step 7:

In a dry skillet or griddle, heat tortillas for about 30 each side. The tortillas MUST be heated or they will crumble in a most untoward fashion.

Step 8:

Lay fish on a bed of the rice on a tortilla, top with sauce. Try not to gobble.

* usually when recipes say 1 clove garlic I put in 3-7, but in this case, I really really mean ONE clove.

The Yummiest Meal I've Ever Made!

This is a fillet of Dover Sole with black bean salsa. I lightly seasoned the fish with salt and pepper, sauted it in olive oil for about 2 minutes per side and topped with the salsa. One addition I made to the salsa recipe: I bought fresh corn and roasted it. The sweetness of the roasted corn really went nicely in the salsa!
Yum yum yum yum yum!!

Fish with a groovy lime salsa

The other day I bought Notebook, one of my favorite magazines. It had a free bag of goodies and included in it was the December 2008/January 2009 issue of delicious. (another fave) I've made a couple of the recipes out of it that I want to share. The first is this delicious fish recipe ... I, of course, modified it, so here is that modified version ...

You will need :
Olive oil
Firm White Fish Fillets (two big ones served the four of us nicely)
1 lime
coconut (see note below)
1 avocado
fresh ginger, grated (to taste)
1 cup fresh coriander (cilantro)
splash fish sauce
1 tsp sugar

I like to try the recipe as close to the way it is the first time I try it. This recipe called for fresh coconut and since I live in a tropical paradise and can buy coconut fresh, I went for it. Don't think I'll do it again. I googled how to open a coconut, thought it look pretty easy, gave it a go but couldn't do it. Luckily Rory's got skillz and he got the coconut open ! The recipe said to grate 80g !! I never weighed it, I just grated til I could grate no more ! And I still had almost a whole coconut left ! ha ha. So yeah ... next time, I'm going to try using desicated coconut ! But ... you do what you like !!!

How you make it:

Segment and chop the lime. Try to catch the juice, or have another lime handy to use a bit of the juice (depending on how limey you want this). Mix with chopped avocado, corander leaves, ginger, fish sauce and sugar. Set aside. (this is quite a tart salsa ... mmmmmm !)

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large non-stick fry pan ( I used a grill pan ) over high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper. Cook til fish is cooked through. Should only take a few minutes each side.

Serve fish on steamed rice and with salsa on top ....

I also roasted cauliflower and asparagus with a whole heap of garlic and olive oil. Mmmmmm !

You may wonder if our kids eat all these meals I cook ?

They sure do.
For some things ( like the lime salsa ) that I think they won't be excited about,
I only give them a small helping.
I wrote about how we taught our kids to eat, if you're interested.

PS. we had leftovers of the salsa. i ate it the next night on mexican chicken. mmmmmm !!

Steamed Fish on Rice

Adapted from Authentic Tastes of Southeast Asia by Celine Carnegie



Here's how you make it :

Fish ... I used Barramundi ... 4 pieces topped with one lime thinly sliced

Steam over high heat for about 15 minutes or til cooked through.

While that's steaming :

Mix the following ...
2 cloves minced garlic
chopped chillies (if you want)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

When fish is done :

Remover from steamer.
Lay on bed of cooked rice.
Top with sauce, cilantro leaves (coriander) and thinly slices spring onion.

I served with :

Kimchee

Next time :

I'll also do a steamed green veggie

More Korean Food ...

This is a group of recipes Grace taught me to make ...

White fleshed fish ... cook minced garlic and soy sauce in fry pan with a bit of olive oil.
Add fish. Cook til fish is cooked ...

Garlic shoots. Fry in olive oil and soy sauce.

Bean Sprouts and spring onions. Steam bean sprouts.
Add chopped spring onions, soy sauce and sesame oil.
Swirl.
Remove from heat.

Serve with rice.
(and kimchee ... optional !)

Beer Battered Fish

This was yummy. I found the recipe here ... you should go check it out.
I love the way she presented the meal !

Kevins Beer Battered Fish (she copied directly from here ... and I am copying directly from her)

Ingredients:
1 bottle beer- I used a light lager
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1 pound cod fillets (or halibut, or haddock, etc., cut into serving sized pieces)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour
oil for frying

Directions:
1. Mix the beer, flour, baking powder, salt and egg into a batter in a bowl.
2. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
3. Dredge the fish in the flour and shake off any excess.
4. Dip the fish into the batter.
5. Fry the fish in preheated 375F oil until cooked, about 4-5 minutes.

Fish a la Bonnie

Rory had a big fat steak for dinner tonight.

The kids had sausages.

I had fish.

Gotta love the versatility of a BBQ dinner !

The fish I chose was called "Basa". A white fleshed fish.

I love fish wrapped in tin foil and cooked on the BBQ.

The way I made it tonight was delicious.

And easy.

All I did was put the fish in the tin foil.

Chopped a spring onion and slivered some garlic ~ put them on top of the fish.

And two spears of asparagus.

Then I topped with a bit of lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and sea salt.

Wrapped it up and Rory BBQ'd it.

I served it with an artichoke and patatas alioli !

DELICIOUS !!