Fish Tacos

Last week's menu:

was pretty much a funny joke. It was too hot and I was kinda sick so I had sandwiches and randomly scrounged freezer food. Except Thursday. Thursday I made fish tacos and they were DELICIOUS.

I got the craving from a magazine cover I saw in the drugstore. They looked so fresh, and I happened to have fish in the freezer and the last 2 corn tortillas in the fridge. I improvised the rest.

My punchy orange garage sale 25 cent placemats match the carrot :o)

Fish Tacos

Heat up a pan on the stove (I know, it's too hot to cook. but it's only on for a short while.)

Place a thawed tilapia filet in the pan and sprinkle with cajun seasoning. We like Tony Chacheres. Keep in mind that if you use a cajun seasoned salt, it's SALT and you can't overdo it. You're supposed to use it in place of salt, and use as much as you'd normally use if you were using salt. Some people can't get this through their heads and end up over-seasoning. Moving on.

Cook on each side for a few minutes until the fish is cooked. It will be white and flake in the thickest part when it's done. While it's cooking, shred some lettuce and carrot. Taditionally shredded cabbage is used but like I said, I improvised. Lettuce and carrot provided the necessary crunch and a pop of color.

Spread a little greek yogurt or sour cream on the corn tortilla, and top with the fish and greens. Nom away.

Fiesta Soft Tacos

I had a tomato that had gotten a little old so its skin was a little tough, but it was still good. Not wanting to waste it, I thought about the leftover bell pepper and onion from the etouffee, the can of chiles and black beans in my pantry, the corn tortillas on the counter, and the ground beef and corn in my freezer. It was so obvious- I had to make tacos.

Tacos are my favorite. They're super easy to make, and there are so many ways to make them. You just pretty much put in what you have and it's always good.

Here we go:

Chop up your veggies: 1/4 c. (or to taste) each of green bell pepper, onion and tomato. If your chiles aren't already chopped, do those too. I used a little less than 1/4 c.

Look at how pretty the veggies are

Take a piece of ground beef about the size of your hand/ palm and season it with 1 to 1 1/2 t. taco seasoning*. Cook that in a pan until it's looking about halfway done. At that point, put in the bell pepper and onion and let them cook to soften them up a bit.

When the meat is brown and looks done, throw in 1/2 c. corn, 1/2 c. black beans, the chiles and the tomatoes. Let it all get warm for about 5 minutes while you soften the tortillas.

Softening tortillas has always been an issue for me- until today! Microwaving is not good, because no matter what I try they're warm and pliable straight out of it, but halfway through eating my taco it starts to fall apart. I've even tried wrapping a damp paper towel around it but that makes it sticky and crumbly- at the same time! I wish I had a gas stove to get those nice toasted parts, but I don't.

So. What I do is turn a burner on my electric stove up high and put a piece of tin foil over it. I spray that with cooking spray (absolutely necessary!) and put my tortilla on it. A few seconds on each side gives me a soft, warm tortilla that stays that way. Awesome.

Anyway, when the taco stuff is all warm and yummy, put it in your tacos with some sour cream and eat away.

These amounts will give you enough for appx 6 tacos.

*Taco Seasoning:
I keep a mix on hand. I use equal parts of salt, ground cumin, chili powder, coriander, and garlic powder, 1/2 part oregano, and 1/4 part sugar and pepper. I shake it up in a small container and keep it until I need it- which is kind of a lot :o)