Baja Fish Tacos

Baja Fish Tacos, made with Tilapia and a heavenly sauce! 

We love fish tacos! I've made them before, but this is a new recipe that adds a little crunch to the crust of the fish without adding significant fat or calories. (See my other recipe HERE )  I found a recipe on the Weight Watchers website, but as I tend to do, I changed it up a little bit. I added cilantro -- which you can certainly leave out if you hate it, as some folks do -- and altered their suggested salad addition to more of a slaw. I also used tilapia since the store was out of Red Snapper when we did our shopping. Substituting the Tilapia for the Red Snapper also brought the price down quite a bit. The sauce that goes with this meal is really, really good! It would be great on its own as a dip! The sauce recipe came pretty  much verbatim from the website except I used fat free Greek yogurt because that is what I keep at home, instead of the low fat the original recipe used.

This meal was a WINNER! Give it a try when you want some authentic street food flavor without all those pesky calories! I halved the recipe since there were only 2 of us at home. We served it with black beans and brown rice. It was muy delicioso!

Baja Fish Tacos
serves 4
7 Smart Points as written, per 2 corn tortillas and 1/4 lb. of fish

Corn or Soft Flour Tortillas for Serving. We prefer corn. 2 Tortillas per person.

For the fish:
1 lb. Tilapia filets
1/2 c. Masa (corn flour)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder
Cooking Spray such as Pam

For the slaw:
2 - 3 cups shredded red cabbage
1/3 c. chopped cilantro
2 - 3 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts
4 radishes, thinly sliced and cut into match sticks

For the Sauce;
2 c. plain fat free Greek Yogurt                                                        

3 T. fresh lime juice
2 pieces Chipotle en Adobo chilies, with a tsp. of juice

First, make the sauce. Puree all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. If you like "less spicy" only use one of the peppers. Set aside.

Make the slaw next. In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables, tossing to combine evenly. Add 1/2 cup of the Sauce and toss until well combined and sauce is evenly distributed. Chill the slaw and the sauce until ready to serve.

For the fish:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the filets into pieces like this:

Lay the filets out on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain any excess moisture.








In a large ziplock plastic bag, add masa and all the spices. Toss in the fish and shake to coat fish evenly. Place a rack over a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Lay the fish on the rack, shaking before placing to get rid of any excess breading.

Spray the fish, turn them over and spray them again with the cooking spray. Turn the oven setting to broil and place an oven rack about 2 inches below the broiler element. Broil the fish for about 5 minutes, remove pan from oven and turn the fish over. Broil another few minutes to crisp up the other side, about 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from oven and build your tacos. Layer the fish, about 2 pieces per tortillas, the slaw and a little more of the sauce, especially if you like some heat! Enjoy!

Hurricane Irene and Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos, Refried Beans, Guacamole and Chips -- Yum!

Hurricane Irene is ON TOP of us, here in Midlothian, VA -- winds are blowing, and the rain is coming in sideways! What to do? COOK of course!

I love fish tacos in the restaurants, but was hesitant to try them here at home. I really don't know why, except that I'd never made a fish taco before, and I want everything I cook to turn out delicious! I am sometimes unwilling to try something new out of fear that it might not be THAT good, but what a silly attitude.

We must try new things in order to grow, right?? !! ??
So, here's my take on Fish Tacos. They are measured against Cabo Fish Tacos in Blacksburg VA, where I have never eaten, but where my family keeps RAVING about and sets the standard as far as Fish Tacos go. I hope you enjoy them, we did! I think, after about 4 tries, I nailed it!

I like to make the slaw for the tacos earlier in the day, so that the flavors can meld.

Tilapia Fish Tacos with Jalapeno Slaw
4 tilapia fillets
2 limes
soft, fresh corn tortillas
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
dash cayenne
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Lay your fillets side by side and squeeze 1/2 of one of the limes over them. Spray the fish lightly with a little more cooking spray and sprinkle on your spices evenly. Be careful with the cayenne pepper if you are not a fan of spicy! (You could even substitute paprika to get the color without the heat, but it will change the taste a little.)
Bake them for about 20 minutes. Squeeze a little more lime juice over the fish and chop it all up -- no knife really required with tilapia -- and put it into a bowl for serving. Warm your tortillas up just a little, wrapped in a damp towel.

Jalapeno Slaw
1/2 of a small to medium green cabbage ( you need about 2+ cups shredded)
1 T. finely minced onion
1 jalapeno, seeds mostly removed, finely minced
1 small bunch cilantro, stems removed and chopped
Juice of 1 lime
2 rounded T. light mayo (I like Dukes)
1/2 tsp. sugar
salt to taste
1 T. cider vinegar
zest of 1/2 lime
First, make your dressing:
In a small bowl, combine mayo, lime juice, sugar, vinegar, lime zest and a pinch of salt. If your lime is not juicy and the dressing looks too thick, add a little more vinegar until it thins out.
Next, thinly shred your cabbage until you have 2 heaping cups. Add the onion cilantro and jalapeno and toss until well combined. Pour your dressing over and mix well. At this point I put the slaw into the refrigerator and stir it a few times to let it all come together.

To serve your tacos, put a few spoonfuls of fish on a warm corn tortilla and top with a little slaw. We like this with jazzed up, fat free re fried beans and some guacamole! Oh, guacamole!! See the recipe below:

Fantastic guacamole
2 ripe avocados
juice of one lime
a little garlic salt
2 T. of your favorite salsa
1 heaping T. light sour cream
a few dashed of hot sauce or 1/2 minced jalapeno
Put your avocado into a nonreactive bowl (not metal). Squeeze your lime juice all over it and sprinkle with garlic salt. Mash this with the back of fork or mince up with a knife. Mix in the salsa and sour cream and either the hot sauce or the minced jalapeno. If not serving immediately, place some clear plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the guacamole. This will help to keep it from turning brown.