Grilled Fish Tacos - Easy, Simple & Healthy

One of the first recipes I ever posted on this here blawg way back in 2007 was for Baja-style fish tacos. The fish is beer battered and then fried and served on corn tortillas with finely shredded cabbage, salsa and a host of delicious sides and condiments. They. Are. Simply. To. Die. For.

But they are also a lot of work to make, thanks to the beer battering and frying aspect of the recipe. And a lot has changed at our house since 2007, namely that we now have a very cute, very demanding three-year-old and another baby on the way this fall. Also, it's been roughly 98 degrees a lot of the time lately which makes the idea of standing over a skillet of boiling oil for 20 minutes even less appealing than I'd usually find it. (What I really excel at lately is lying down in an air-conditioned room, reading -- I find I'm quite good at it...)

But we still have to eat! And I still want everything to taste really good, in spite of the heat and our limited time and energy. So I've adapted a new, much easier, equally delicious, and far healthier version of fish tacos that we now make all the time.

The key is that the fish is grilled, instead of battered and fried. And in addition to being quick and easy, it's so light and flavorful and delicious this way, that I don't think I will ever go back to Baja unless I am at a restaurant or maybe when both my kids have gone off to college in about a million years from now.

You can use any kind of meaty white fish - tilapia, halibut, Mahi Mahi, etc. I used tilapia for this batch. You marinate the fillets in citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange or any combo thereof is good), olive oil, salt and pepper, some cilantro or other herbs and either a little thinly sliced onion or shallot or a pressed clove of garlic.

Then prep your sauces and sides. These are all really easy and yummy.

One of the most important is finely shredded cabbage - it gives the tacos a nice, fresh crunch that is mildly sweet and nutty. I usually use red cabbage as I love the color it lends but had green on hand from our CSA for this meal. I use my little hand-held Kyocera mandoline to make quick, fine work of it - it only takes about 40 seconds to get a big pile (the mandoline is magic!)

Then the mayonesa sauce which is just mayo, lime juice and salt but somehow transforms the whole taco into a mouthful of deliciousness. Do NOT skip the mayo sauce! Even people who do not like mayo usually love this sauce (though you may have to gently prod them to try it the first time.)

Then salsa. You can make your own salsa fresh or use bottled. I usually use salsa we've canned - here's my recipe. Tomato season is almost upon us and it's a great way to line your shelves with delicious homemade salsa for the entire year to come.

Then some fresh cilantro. Just wash, dry and remove the stems.

Then some finely sliced red onion - it's nice if you can almost see through the slices. That way people can get the flavor of the onion on their tacos without becoming a fire breathing onion monster in the process.

Then the avocado. Normally, I make the avocado sauce you'll find described in the Baja post, but this last time, I made one more time-saving concession, nixing the avocado sauce in favor of plain old sliced avocados. I found it equally tasty but mucho mas quick as there was no need to tangle with the Cuisinart or wash it afterwards (a chore I despise.) So you can either slice it and be done with it, as I did, make the avocado sauce (recipe in the Baja-style post), or make your favorite guacamole to throw on the tacos. It's all up to you.

Then grill your fish. We've taken to grilling it on a piece of tinfoil since it has a tendency to fall apart otherwise (probably a bigger fish like halibut, mahi mahi or cod sticks together a little better than tilapia but this works beautifully, regardless...)

And heat up your corn tortillas - either right on the grill (easiest and quickest) or over a burner on your stove. Fish tacos should be served on corn tortillas. Despite the fact that I am a white girl and typically prefer flour tortillas, I have to say that corn is the way to go here - the taste is right. Flour would just be wrong...

Then put it all out and go to town! You should probably plan on each person eating between 2-4 tacos (and maybe more for a large man with a big appetite) as they are smallish in size.

-- print recipe --

Grilled Fish Tacos

Serves 4

Sides

* 1-2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced

* 1/4 large (or 1/2 small) red onion, finely sliced

* 1-2 cups cilantro leaves, rinsed, dried and with stems removed

* 2 cups finely shredded red or green cabbage

* Salsa of your choice - fresh or jarred

* 12-16 corn tortillas

Mayonesa Sauce

* 1/2 cup mayonnaise

* 2 tsps lime juice

* Sea salt to taste

Fish

* 1 1/2 pounds firm, meaty white fish like halibut, tilapia, striped bass, mahi mahi or cod

* Juice of 1-2 limes (depending on size and juiciness), or one lemon or orange

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* Sea salt

* Freshly ground black pepper

* A little chopped cilantro or oregano

* A little finely chopped red onion or garlic

1. Marinate the fish in the lime juice, olive oil, herbs, onion or garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and put in fridge for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour.

2. Make the mayonesa sauce: place the mayonnaise in a small bowl and add the lime juice and salt, stirring until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust the lime and salt ratios as needed to taste.

3. Prepare the sides - this is just washing, slicing and dicing unless you decide to get fancy and make your own salsa or decide to try the avocado sauce.

4.Grill the fish. Turn your grill to high, let it heat up, then reduce the flame to medium. Place the fish on a sheet of tinfoil and roll the edges up to prevent juices from spilling into the flames. Grill for 5-8 minutes (time will depend on the size of the fillets you're using), until fish is cooked through and flaky but still tender and moist. Transfer to a plate and break into serving-sized pieces.

5. Heat the tortillas - place on grill for 10-20 seconds per side, until grill marks appear. Then transfer to a basket and cover with a dishcloth to keep them warm and prevent them from drying out.

6. Put everything out on the table and let everyone assemble their own tacos.

You might also like:

• Heirloom Tomato Salsa
• (Holy) Guacamole
• Red Cabbage, Lime, Cilantro & Honey Slaw

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Grilled Radicchio Salad With Balsamic Dressing & Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Although I never buy it, I love the look of radicchio - those thick, crisp, maroon leaves with raised white veins are so pretty! But we got a simply beautiful head of the stuff in our most recent Hearty Roots CSA share, the typical coloring of the outer leaves tinged all over with a surprising and lovely green.

Since I never buy radicchio, I'd never cooked with it, either. So I turned to the internet for inspiration, of course (how did we do anything before the internet???) I found several simple yet yummy-looking recipes for grilled radicchio. I liked the idea that grilling the veg over high heat has a way of transforming its decidedly bitter taste to something mellowier and vaguely nutty.

The rest was history. I quartered the radicchio (you want to include part of the core in each piece to prevent it from falling apart), tossed the pieces with a generous mixture of olive oil, fresh orange juice, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper (don't skimp!) and asked my husband, our resident grillmaster, to go fire things up.

You will need to watch the radicchio wedges closely as they can burn easily and turn them often. A little char is good, too much is BAD.

Although you could just drizzle some good quality balsamic vinegar over them once they're done and tuck in, I found the idea of a salad more appealing. Cut the wedges into chunks, drizzle with a simple balsamic vinaigrette (suggested recipe below or feel free to use your own), and shave some Parmesan cheese over the whole thing.

The flavor is divine! Although some bites were still on the bitter side, I found it surprisingly addictive (sort of similar to the way I feel about this divine salad of shaved brussels sprouts, raw kale, toasted almonds and Parmesan.) The combination of the salty cheese, the sweet balsamic and the nutty, slightly bitter greens is goooood.

I only had one head of radicchio but I've doubled the recipe below so you can feed four (or maybe five - depends how many people find it addictive...) with it. We ate ours with the scrumptious green beans with herby lemon aioli I posted recently and a delicious grilled shell steak.

-- print recipe --Grilled Radicchio Salad With Balsamic Dressing & Shaved Parmesan
Serves 4-5 as a side

Ingredients

For the salad:
* 2 heads of radicchio, quartered, so that each chunk has some of the core/stem holding it together (otherwise, you might need to put the leaves in a grill basket as they won't hold together)
* A big handful of fresh basil leaves, rinsed and dried, stems removed
* A big handful of fresh parsley leaves, rinsed and dried, stems removed
* Several glugs of olive oil
* 1/2 cup orange juice (optional)
* Parmesan, Pecorino or Romano cheese to taste
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
* Roughly 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped or pressed
* 1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
* 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions

1. Make the dressing. Put the salt, garlic, mustard, maple syrup or honey and balsamic vinegar into a food processor or blender and pulse to combine. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil slowly until the dressing comes together. Or, you can also just whisk it all together with a fork if that is more your speed or you don't feel like washing a food processor (I know I never do...)

2. Prepare your grill for high, direct heat. Coat quartered radicchio with olive oil and orange juice, then sprinkle with salt and pepper - make sure each piece is well-covered.

3. Grill the radicchio over high heat, uncovered. Watch closely and turn often to prevent them from charring too much. You want them cooked and lightly charred in spots but not totally blackened. Remove to a bowl, plate or cutting board.

4. Chop the radicchio quarters into bite-sized pieces and toss with the dressing. Garnish with shaved or grated Parmesan, Pecorino or Romano cheese (I urge you not to skimp on the cheese.) Serve hot or let cool down - it'd be good both ways.

You might also like:

• Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad With Toasted Almonds & Parmesan
• Wilted Russian Kale Salad With Balsamic Vinegar & Orange Zest
• Red Cabbage, Lime, Cilantro & Honey Slaw

For more delicious recipes, gardening ideas, foraging tips, and food-related inspiration "like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.

Green Beans With Quick Lemon Basil Aioli

Summertime and the livin' is easy... I love all the delicious, flavorful veggies and fruits that are dropping off the vine/stalk/tree at this time of year. It makes cooking a joy.

We grow herbs, green beans, tomatoes, cukes and some lettuce and arugula out on our deck. But due to limited space in the container garden, we only get a few green beans a day which I then wash, dry and put in the fridge until I've amassed enough to use. But it still only adds up to a handful or so of the delicious green monsters a week (see photo below.) So I bought some more at the Woodstock Farm Festival yesterday to supplement.

Although I have finally mastered the art of making aioli from scratch (and it is an out-of-this-world treat), I have to admit that I am usually too lazy busy to do it. Instead, I get great, quick results by just doctoring store-bought mayonnaise. I used a new Hellmann's mayo that includes olive oil for this batch of aioli and it turned out great. They're offering a dollar off the stuff if you want to try it (just click the Coupon tab on that page if you're interested.)

The herbs you use are up to you but basil and dill are great choices to start with if you have either on hand (I used both.)

I love the creamy, garlicky, herb-filled taste you can achieve in just a matter of minutes. My suggestion is not to skimp on the salt!

Take care not to overcook the green beans as you want to blanch them just long enough to make them tender-crisp but not so much that they get limp and bland looking. One of the keys to getting the beans right is having an ice water bath ready to stop the cooking once you remove them from the boiling water - otherwise, they will continue to cook for a number of minutes as they cool down.

Toss it all together and you have a gorgeous summer side that should please everyone as it's both dairy and gluten-free (although it's not vegan due to the eggs in the mayo) which can be a plus if there are people in your life who can't or won't eat dairy/wheat/gluten. Ours accompanied grilled shell steak and a grilled radicchio and herb salad that I hope to post a recipe for very soon.

Green Beans With Quick Lemon Basil Aioli

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients

For the salad

* 6 cups of fresh green beans, rinsed with the ends trimmed off

* Tray or two of ice cubes and lots of cold water

For the aioli

* 1 tsp sea salt

* 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

* 3/4 cup mayonnaise

* 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed (you can use more if you like garlic or less if you're not a fan)

* 3-4 tsp fresh lemon juice

* 3 tsp fresh dill, chopped

* 3 tsp fresh basil, chopped

Directions

1. Make the aioli by combining all the sauce ingredients and stirring well. Taste and adjust the flavors as needed. It's okay if it seems a bit salty and garlicky - remember, this is going to provide the sole seasoning for a lot of green beans. You can make the aioli a day in advance if you like - the flavors only improve with a little extra time.

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Then add the green beans and blanch then until they're just a little bit tender but still bright green - probably just 2-4 minutes (depending on the size and toughness of the beans you're working with.) While they're cooking, prepare a large pot of very cold water mixed with ice cubes so that you'll have it at the ready to put the blanched beans in - this is important so that you can stop the cooking process (otherwise, they'll continue to cook and end up overdone). Once the beans are done, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon or by pouring them into a colander, then place them in the ice water bath for 5 minutes to ensure that the cooking stops.

3. Combine the cooled down blanched beans and the sauce, stirring with a large spoon to ensure that everything gets well-coated with the aioli and serve. It's delicious warm or cold and goes well with nearly everything (especially anything grilled.) If it looks like there's too much sauce, save what's leftover in the fridge - it's great with grilled salmon or other fish, steamed potatoes and more. 

You might also like:

• Potato Salad With Lemon-Dill Aioli & Haricots Verts
• Creamy Beet Salad
• Curried Potato Salad

Want even more recipes, photos, giveaways, and food-related inspiration? "Like" the Garden of Eating on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter or Pinterest.

Disclaimer: I received a sample of Hellmann's Mayonnaise with Olive Oil to try, and was compensated for my ingredients and time in creating this recipe, but my opinions are 100% my own.