Fish Tacos

Alright - I didn't have any possible way to make this picture pretty, because it was a messy meal! But oh soo good. Plus - its a really fun meal to make because you can have all kinds of options for toppings... and it makes a great meal for a large group because you just set up a little taco bar and let people make their own! (I recently had fish tacos at a friend's house, so it inspired me to come up with my own to make for Brandon and me to enjoy). Also - it helps having a new taco place in town, the Local Taco, to inspire me to want to eat them as well.

Fish Tacos

feeds 2-3 people

• 3 Tilapia filets
• 2 limes
• 3 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• fresh cilantro
• flour tortillas - I recommend Trader Joe's handmade tortillas
• salsa - I recommend the pineapple salsa from trader joe's
• sour cream
• 1 can of black beans
  
• 1 small red onion, or half of a larger one
• a handful of cherry tomatoes (I used an heirloom tomato mix)
• 1 serrano chili, or any chili depending on the heat you like
  
• cumin
• cayenne pepper
• chili powder
• salt & pepper

1. First you'll want to mix the juice from one lime, a few tablespoons of olive oil, & 3 cloves of crushed/minced garlic in a small bowl... whisking until its well combined. Pour this mixture over the fish filets in a ziploc bag and let sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
2. In the mean time, heat up a can of black beans on the stovetop, drained, with finely minced red onion. Cook until thickened. Toward the end, throw in some fresh cilantro and lime juice for flavor.
3. Chop the cherry tomatoes into smaller pieces along with the chopped chili pepper and some chopped red onion. Mix together in a bowl with some salt, pepper, fresh chopped cilantro and a little bit of olive oil. Set aside.
   
4. Once the fish has marinated, heat a skillet over medium heat with a little bit of olive oil. Season the fish filets with salt, pepper, a little cumin, a little cayenne, and a little chili powder... you know what you can handle.. Cook the fish until it starts to fall apart - do not over cook!! It will become dry and not very tasty at all. Discard the marinade.
5. Once the fish is done, let it rest on a cutting board for about 5 minutes... then using a fork, flake the fish apart into bite size pieces. Time to set up the taco bar! Make sure to steam the tortillas so they're nice and soft (in the microwave with paper towels for about 20 seconds should do the trick). Open up some salsa, sour cream, set out the cherry tomato mixture, some fresh chopped cilantro, a few lime wedges, and the black beans.
   
6. Assemble your tacos and enjoy! You can either throw some black beans in with the taco or leave it on the side..either way its good. You could probably even cook up some rice to add in... or mash up some fresh avocadoes.. have some fresh mango or bell peppers... tons of options.

So I hope I managed to get everything in there.. I made this 2 weeks ago off the top of my head, so its hard to remember everything I did.. But they were really really really reallly good. I want some now!

Enjoy!
Posted by LAUREN!