Spicy Fish Tacos

Living on an Island on the West Coast of Canada, I am extremely fortunate to be able to get fresh fish easily.  In fact, since we usually catch our own or have friends give us some of their fresh catch, we often have a lot of fish in the freezer.  This makes it fun to try new recipes instead of sticking with only the tried and true.

One of our favourite creations has come in the form of fish tacos.  I have done them several ways, but this version is a nice combination of spicy and zesty.  The halibut is done in a chipotle marinade and then baked in the oven.  It’s served with a light slaw and a zesty cilantro-lime sour cream.  You can vary the amount of spice according to your own taste.  We like soft tacos, but these can easily be served in the crunchy kind as well.

I hope you enjoy!

(makes 12 tacos)

FISH

2 pounds white fish fillets such as halibut or cod

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 Chipotle pepper (canned  in adobo sauce), finely chopped

1.5 TBSP Adobo Sauce

1 Clove Garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

Make sure fish is cleaned, skinned and boned.  Dice into 1 Inch cubes, place into 9×9 baking dish.

Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over fish.  Mix well to coat, then cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or over-night.

Cilantro Sour Cream

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

2 TBSP Mayonnaise

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 1 lime

1 Clove Garlic

Pinch of Salt

1 TBSP Olive Oil

2 Cups Cilantro

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Zesty Lime Slaw

6 Cups shredded cabbage (or pre-bagged coleslaw mix)

Zest of 1 lime

Juice of 1 Lime

1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1 TBSP Greek Yogurt

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl approx 1 hour before serving.

Cooking directions

When you are ready for dinner, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Place fish in your oven and bake for 12 min.  Do not over cook!

At the same time, warm up your taco shells.  I use soft corn tortillas.  Place the stack of tortillas in aluminum foil, wrap them up and stick them in the oven to warm as the fish cooks.

Once the fish is done, remove from the oven along with the tortillas.

To assemble, add some slaw to the tortilla, followed by the fish, and then a drizzle of the cilantro sour cream.  Fold in half and enjoy!

Some additional tips & ideas for this recipe:

• Marinading the fish over-night will add much more flavour, but if you are in a rush, an hour works just fine
• Add more adobo sauce or chilies if you want it spicier
• You can also spice up the slaw by adding a bit of the adobo sauce or a pinch of chili pepper

Honey-Mustard Ribs

I love flavourful, juicy, fall off the bone ribs.  BBQ ribs are good, but there is an art to getting it right and I find that there are so many variables to having them come out the same way each time.

My ribs are not done on the BBQ, but I promise that you will not care.  They are so delicious, it’s unlikely that you will have leftovers.  These ribs are slow cooked in the oven and then finished off under the broiler.  You don’t have to babysit them all day either, in fact, once they go in the oven you should not lift the tinfoil until it’s time to stick them under the broiler.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Honey-Mustard Ribs

2 racks of Pork Back Ribs

1/4 cup All-Purpose Meat Rub

3/4 Cup Yellow Mustard

1/2 Cup Ketchup

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TBSP Worchestersire Sauce

4 Cloves Garlic (Finely chopped)

1 TBSP Hot Sauce

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

2 TBSP Rye or Whiskey

**You will be baking these ribs at 300 degrees for 3 hours and then broiling for about 10 min**

2 Hours prior to beginning cooking – coat both sides of each rack with the All-Purpose Meat Rub.  Place in a roasting pan that is big enough to hold both racks and refrigerate until ready to cook.

While ribs are in the fridge, mix remaining ingredients in large bowl.

When it’s time to cook, Pre-Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Pour 1.5 Cups of the sauce over the ribs and then cover the pan tightly with foil.  Make sure no steam can escape.  Place ribs in the oven and cook for 3 hours.  Do not peek!

When there is about 15 min of cook time remaining, pour the rest of the sauce into a medium sauce pan and cook over med-high heat, stir occasionally until reduced to about half.

After 3 hours, take the ribs out of the oven.  Turn the broiler on.  Drain any liquid that has formed n the pan and cut the ribs into portions of 2 or 3 ribs.

With a pastry brush, generously coat the ribs with the reduced sauce (both sides).

Now place the ribs under the broiler for about 5 min before turning and broiling the other side another 5 min.  You will have to watch closely as all broilers are different. You want the sauce to glaze and get sticky, but not burn.

Take the ribs out of the oven and serve.

Some additional tips & ideas for this recipe:

• DO NOT PEEK during the 3 hour cook time.  You do not want steam to escape, it is key to making these moist and delicious
• Reduce the hot sauce if you don’t like spicy

Chocolate-Cherry Protein Smoothie

Summer is finally arriving here and I am so glad that it is.

With summer comes the need to stay cool.  I’m really trying to stay away from sugary snacks such as high calorie drinks and ice cream.  Cherries are in season and I was fortunate enough to find them on sale.  I decided to get creative and make myself a healthy, cool drink.  This Chocolate-Cherry Smoothie was just the thing.  It has a nice cherry flavour with just a hint of chocolate.  You would never know it was good for you!

I hope you enjoy.

Chocolate-Cherry Protein Smoothie

1 Cup Almond Milk 

1 Cup Pitted Cherries

1.5 Cups Ice

2 tsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 TBSP Vanilla Protein Powder ( I like Vega-One)

Toss all ingredients into a  blender and blend until smooth.  Garnish with a drizzle of chocolate syrup if desired.

 

Some additional tips & ideas for this recipe:

• Use Homemade Almond Milk if you can.  
• Use frozen cherries and reduce the ice for a more intense cherry flavour
• Adjust the protein powder as needed depending on the type you use and the intensity of it’s flavour

Horseradish Mignonette

Oysters.  They seem to be one of those things you either love or hate.  We love them.  And because we live on an island, we are fortunate enough to be able to get them super fresh.

This light and tangy mignonette has just a hint of horseradish.  It is the perfect compliment to fresh shucked oysters.

Horseradish Mignonette

3/4 Cup White Wine Vinegar

2 Tsp horseradish

2 TBSP finely diced red onion

1 tsp lemon zest

dash of fresh ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours before using.

Shuck the oysters, and drizzle on the mignonette.

Some additional tips & ideas for this recipe:

• You can use shallots in place of red onion
• Use whatever heat of horseradish you prefer
• In a pinch, you can use the mignonette right away, but it will develop better flavour the long you let it sit