perfect light and healthy fish tacos

i’ve been craving fish tacos for a while now… i wanted to use up my tilapia i bought on sale a few weeks ago and froze.  tilapia is an easy white fish to prepare, it doesn’t take long to cook, and it pretty much takes on the flavour of your dish. typically, fish tacos are made with cod or a heartier white fish… but who wants to put fancy yummy expensive cod in a taco?!  not me.  i’ll use my $2.99 frozen filets, thankyouverymuch!

seriously, you can buy frozen tilapia {2-3 small filets} at whole foods market for $2.99 a pop!  i bought these fresh a few weeks ago and froze them… which i normally wouldn’t do, but this is one fish i will eat frozen, and only this way.  i won’t prepare frozen fish as the main course, it simply doesn’t taste as good.  i did luck out once with some flash-frozen wild coho salmon, but that is rare 🙂

i googled tons of recipes for inspiration for my fish tacos.  so many of the recipes took longer or had a ton of steps… so i just made up my own recipe.  i knew i had the tilapia and taco shells at home {part of how i find inspiration for dishes – look at what you already have!}, so i just needed my ingredients. avocados are on sale right now which was a bonus.  i had the onion and citrus at home as well so i just purchased the cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes, and pepper.  i also used a little chili powder, which i don’t normally keep in the home, so i bought some in bulk.  stay tuned for a blog on how and why to buy in bulk!!!  saves tons!

ingredients :

{made 6-8 tacos} and remember folks, i don’t measure… i am totally guessing on this here 🙂  listen to your inner food processor 😉

– 4-6 filets tilapia {or fish of choice}

– 1.5-2 cups red cabbage

– 1/2 cup red onion

– 1/3 cup cilantro

– 5-6 small tomatoes {you guessed it, san marzanos for me – i don’t think i’ll ever buy another tomato again}

– 1 fresno pepper {jalapeno will do just fine}

– 1 ripe avocado

– squeeze of lemon and lime juice

– chili powder or any spice you want to put on tilapia

begin by preheating oven to 400 degrees.  get your fish ready by placing it on a sheet of tinfoil {i needed to use 2 sheets, with 3 filets each}.  squeeze half a lemon over each set of filets and then sprinkle on your chili powder {mine was called “fiesta} or seasonings.  wrap the tinfoil loosely around your filets and set aside while oven preheats.

keep a little opening on each side for air and heat to flow through

once oven is preheated, put in your fish and bake for about 10 minutes or until flaky… it may not even take that long…

in the meantime, prepare your salsa.  add tomatoes, onion, pepper, cilantro, and squeeze 1 whole lime into your food processor and blend until a salsa consistency has formed.  set aside until ready to serve.

i take a lot of pride on being able to pick a really good avocado.  i didn’t always used to be good at this.  but over the years, it’s like i can “feel” the fruit more now… the weight of it, i look at the skin and know if it’s going to be a good one or not.  i know how to pick an avocado that will be ripe in 2 days, or one that is ready to eat tonight.  in the case of the above avocado, i bought it the day before, knowing it would be perfect for my fish tacos.  and boy was it!

chop up a yummy fresh avocado and set aside.  at this time, also chop up your cabbage and set aside with avocado and salsa.

once fish is thoroughly cooked, remove from oven and keep in tinfoil for a couple minutes to let it rest.  place your taco shells on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven for a couple minutes to warm them up.

**side note – i think soft corn tacos would’ve made this dish even better – so opt for those if you can!

once they are toasted up, remove from heat and let’s make a taco!
start with your fish, then add a teensie layer of salsa, followed by the avocado, cabbage, and finally topped with more salsa.

i ate 3 and could’ve had one more!  they were perfect – just what i wanted! lots of flavour, could hardly tell it was a fish taco!  the salsa is packed with nutrients as well as the cabbage and avocado. good stuff! 🙂

Tags: easy, fish tacos, healthy, light, tilapia