Fish Tacos

Many years ago, my partner David and I went to Venice Beach in L.A. where I had the opportunity to try fish tacos for the first time. They were delicious and since that time, I  haven't found anything like them. And these are not like them either, sorry! But, I still think they are pretty good. Plus, the fish is so full of flavour that you could use the same fish recipe and serve with the salsa and rice and have a whole other meal. ln fact, you could pretty well dissect almost the entire meal and use each of the recipes in other meals.

This one though is fresh, simple, quick and easy to make! Obviously you could use use a store-bought salsa and guacamole, but, given how quick and truly easy they are to make, I prefer to make my own (plus it is a great way to impress guests!) In this case, I not only made my own, but I used fresh ingredients from my garden. My tomatoes and hot peppers are ready to go!

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family did! (This recipe served 3 adults)

Fish Tacos

FISH
3 Tilapia filets
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil

1. Sprinkle the fish, both sides, with the chili powder and salt. Gently rub it into the fish.
2. Squeeze lime juice on the fish, then drizzle with olive oil. 
3. Allow it marinade for approx. 1 hour.

SALSA
1/4 red or white onion, chopped fine
4-5 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 thai red chili, chopped fine (remove the seeds to make it less spicy)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

• Mix all of the above ingredients in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Stir and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

GUACAMOLE
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1-1/2 limes, juiced
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
2 dashes chipotle sauce
1/2 thai chili chopped fine
sea salt to taste

1. Place avocados in a medium sized bowl. Add garlic, lime juice, cumin, salt, cilantro and chipotle sauce.
2. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are well combined and the avocado has achieved your desired texture. (I like mine a little lumpy).

TO SERVE:
1/4 head butter lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yoghurt
1/2 cup Feta cheese
6-8 small wraps
1/4 cup refried beans or black beans (optional)

Once all of that is ready, and your table is set, it is time to cook the fish!

COOKING THE FISH

1. To cook the fish, heat a cast iron pan over med-high heat until it is almost smoking hot. 
2. Add fish and all of the juices from the marinade and cook for approx. 3-5 mins per side (depending on thickness of the fish) or until the fish is cooked through.

Place on a platter, and serve while hot! This is a great serve yourself dinner. Everyone can mix and match their ingredients according to their tastes. I usually keep an extra bottle of hot sauce on the table for those who need that extra kick!

My favorite salad, The Cobb

I love Cobb Salad. It has a little bit of everything that I love, cheese, bacon, avocado and more. It is particularly good when prepared now when we can use the vegetables that are in season. Ontario has fantastically sweet peaches'n'cream corn and my tomatoes that I have grown in the backyard are ripening. Plus, with the heat of the summer, salad is all I want to eat. So Cobb it is.  I hope you enjoy this version, full of protein and lycopene, fibre and more, so a meal you can feel good about, it covers all the bases, indulgent with the cheese, but healthy!

Cobb Salad
1 head boston/butter lettuce
2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts (Scallopini style/cut thin)
6-8 slices organic bacon
2 cobbs of corn or 1-1/2 cups frozen or canned
1 avocado, cut into cubes
1 full tomato, cut into cubes
1/2 cup blue cheese (I like Roquefort)
1 cucumber (which I actually didn't include this time)
4 hard-boiled organic eggs
1/4 cup nicoise olives (optional)

Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp chopped chives
salt & pepper

1. Cook your bacon until it is crispy. Once it has cooled, break them into pieces and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about 5-10 mins to make them extra crispy and set aside.
2. On med-high heat, cook the chicken breasts in the leftover bacon grease until cooked. Allow them  to cool and then set aside.
3. If you are using fresh corn, remove cut it away from the cobb and steam. I cut my corn directly onto a tea towel to keep if from rolling off the cutting board and onto the floor
4. To assemble the salad, lay out the lettuce onto a dish. Then in sections, lay each of the ingredients. If your plate is circular, lay them out on top of the lettuce like individual pie slices (as I have done), if your dish is square or rectangular, lay the ingredients in rows. 
5. Drizzle with your salad dressing

Enjoy!!

It doesn't get much fresher than this!

Every year for the past 10 years, my closest friends (Kim, Christopher and their 2 gorgeous young children) who rent a house in Martha's Vineyard and invite me. I have never been, until this year. It is a beautiful island, scenic, soft sandy beaches, quiet, and great seafood! For years I heard tales and names of places like Chilmark and Menemsha, but now I know these places.

Menemsha is a small fishing area where one goes and chooses their favorite fish house and orders what they want, fresh from the days haul. Then, with your food and your bottle of wine, glasses, etc. that you bring with you, since this is a dry part of the island, you sit on the shoreline and enjoy them. It doesn't get much better than that does it? Well this sounded just perfect for me so off we went, just after we had arrived. Her favorite place, and where we went was Larsens. A tiny little place that backs onto the harbour. In you walk into their shop, the left side is for ordering your fish that you can prepare at home, the right has a tiny little window where you order your seafood...oysters, little necks, lobster bisque, etc.

We ordered oysters, lobster bisque and little necks. Reaching into buckets of ice right in front of you, the fish monger chooses your selection and shuck them right there placing them onto the most lovely...paper plates. Yes, you heard it paper plates Nothing fancy abut this place. It's all about the haul. They don't need to gussy it up with fancy plates or seaweed. It is real simple, with your plate of fish, you choose your acoutrements, lemon wedges from a tupperware container, jarred horseradish, cocktail sauce. But all of this...just adds to the experience.

Well, if this wasn't enough, Christopher added to the meal by heading just across the street to The Bite, where also using fish from the daily haul, he brought deep fried scallops, clams and zucchini and their famous clam chowder.

So how was it all? In a word, delicious! Let's start with Larsens. The oysters, you could still taste the salt from the ocean in them. A little gritty, they don't clean them maybe quite as much as I am accustomed, but it doesn't change how delicious and fresh tasting they were. They weren't the big meaty ones nor were they too metallic a flavour either. The little necks, my first time having them, were quite tasty, not too fishy with a neat texture, kind of crunchy. As for the lobster bisque, I have never had a lobster bisque like that. It was AMAZING!! Not too rich, good lobster flavour, not too thick, and had a little spice in it. We only ordered 1 to share amongst David (my partner & I) and I ended up eating almost all of it. I just couldn't get enough of it.

As for The Bite, being deep-fried helps, since we all know everything is better when its deep-fried. But not everybody can deep fry well. The Bite does. I was a little weary on deep-fried clams, the rest I knew could be good, but clams? Ok, these were like little deep fried candies, so good. Nothing tasted greasy, it was all just good. The only thing I didn't love, and that doesn't meant it was bad, was the Clam Chowder. I am not a big fan of potato and I could taste more potato than I would prefer, but the texture was good, like the lobster bisque from Larsens, not too rich, I would still recommend it if you like Clam Chowder, but if I had to choose one, go with the Lobster Bisque from Larsens.

Simple is delicious

I love things that are simple. This little appetizer is so easy you don't even have to cook it, refrigerate it or freeze it. It can be prepared and served in about 15 mins! So what is it you ask?

Smoked trout crostini

Smoked trout (from your local fish monger, preferably organic)
1 tsp capers
1/2 cucumber, cut into slices
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper
1/2 baguette or crostini or crackers

Remove the trout from the skin and simply break it into small pieces. Sprinkle with the capers, lemon, olive oil and a bit of salt & pepper.
To serve, place a cucumber onto your crostini, then layer with the trout mixture and enjoy!

Simple and delicious! This is a favorite appetizer of mine that you can make all year. What I particularly love, is that if you make it in the winter, it has a freshness that reminds you of summer.