The Tacos of the Sea

If you're expecting a regular taco when you eat a fish taco, you'll be disappointed. Ask my husband. Cheesy and greasy they aren't.   But fish tacos are a fantastic option for a healthy (and cheap) weeknight meal.  Start to finish, prep takes about 30 minutes. That's my required tri-fecta of cooking: cheap, quick, healthy. And the mexican avocado slaw is great both as a side dish, and as a taco topping.  Add a greek yogurt-based chipotle creme, and you've got yourself a gourmet fish taco. This is my combination of a few great recipes I found online (my Pinterest page has links to the original recipes).  It'll make you six small-ish tacos.

Chipotle Creme
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

Mexican Avocado Slaw
2 avocados, diced
1 mango, diced
3-4 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
medium jalepano, minced
handful of cherry tomatos, quartered

Dressing:
1/4 cup EVOO
juice of 2-3 limes
pinch of salt
1 tsp honey

Pan Fried Tilapia
3 frozen tilapia filets, thawed
1/2 cup corn meal
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
1-2 TB olive oil

1. Thaw the tilapia filets. Cut longways so each filet creates two long pieces.
2. Combine the cornmeal, paprika and a dash of salt and pepper.  Coat each piece of tilapia.
3. Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat.
4. Fry fish in olive oil, 3-4 minutes per side.
5. Serve with mexican avocado slaw and chipotle creme on a corn tortilla.

Mexican avocado slaw. 

Considering I got all but the cilantro and chipotle peppers at Aldi's, this meal was pretty cheap (why won't Aldi's supply fresh herbs?).   I buy the tilapia frozen in bulk, so each filet ends up costing about $.60.  And Aldi's now has Fage yogurt ($3.20), mangos ($.80) and avocados ($.39).  The total cost of this meal is less than $10 (assuming you don't use a whole container of yogurt, chipotle peppers, etc.) And yes, Jake ended up loving them, as well. See you again soon, tacos of the sea!