Best Fish Tacos

Even though it is almost April, it is cold and rainy today. Yuck! I just wanted to make it feel a bit more closer to summer, so thought I’d make some fish tacos for dinner. You can buy tortillas or taco shells from the store, or you can make your own homemade tortillas! So easy and fun to do with the kids. Inside the soft, warm tortillas, we put some fish or shrimp, top with a crunchy vinegar based coleslaw, fresh juicy bites of mango, and a little bit (or a lot if you are my husband) of homemade creamy hot sauce. One bite and you’ll feel like you are sitting in a beach town on vacation. 🙂

This morning, while my kids were eating breakfast, I started by making the creamy hot sauce.
It is 1/2 cup light mayo, 1 Tablespoon Sriracha and 1 Tablespoon sugar or honey. That’s it!
I put it in a container in the fridge and that is ready for tonight.

I also peeled and chopped 2 mangoes. Please be careful when you cut them off the pit, they can get very slippery.
You could also use pineapple instead of mango, or even mandarin oranges. I just like the bite of sweet & juicy freshness with the fish.
Totally up to you, you can even omit it. Our friend, Scott, won’t eat any fruit with his protein, so too bad for him. 🙂

I also threw the coleslaw together. I was so excited to find angel hair coleslaw mix – the cabbage is sliced so thin.
This recipe was posted a few weeks ago – http://peacelovesprinkles.com/2017/03/14/homemade-cole-slaw/

The tortillas do take a little bit of time to prepare.
Try it if you have an hour, if not, feel free to just buy your favorite ones and warm them up.

The recipe I use is http://www.adashofsanity.com/2016/12/best-ever-flour-tortillas/

The ingredients are:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup warm water

Mix these ingredients together in a bowl.

Flour, salt

 .

Baking powder, canola oil

Add the oil, then the warm water

Mix until you have the dough together.

Scoop out 1 to 2 Tablespoon size balls and place on parchment.
With this recipe, I ended up with 18 tortillas. They were about 6 to 8 inches big.
If you want them bigger, just make your dough balls bigger.
Place a damp paper towel over them and let them rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, roll out on a floured surface with rolling pin. They don’t have to be perfect!

Cook each tortilla in a dry non-stick skillet for a minute or two.
The first side always cooks longer than the second side.
Feel free to spray cooking spray in the skillet for the first one you are cooking.

When they start to bubble up, flip over with tongs.

After each one is done, I stack them on a plate. This helps to keep them warm.

If you happen to have leftover tortillas, throw them in a plastic bag or container in the fridge for the next couple days.
(I make breakfast burritos for the kids with eggs & cheese, or you can use them as a base for tortilla pizzas)

When you are half way done cooking your tortillas, you can put your fish in the oven.
Here is a secret – if you want crispy fish, just get some frozen fish fillets and bake until crispy.
If you don’t want the breading, broil up any fish you enjoy – tilapia, cod, haddock. All it needs is a drop of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Shrimp is also another easy option for these tacos.

When everything is done, you are ready to assemble! Everyone gets to customize their own.
We have the tortillas, the sauce, the fish, coleslaw, cilantro, mango and some fresh arugula.
A fresh squeeze of lime to top if off is the finishing touch!
You can have a bite of all the flavors and textures –
soft tortillas, crunchy fish, sour coleslaw, sweet mango, bitter arugula, fresh cilantro, spicy sauce, tart lime.

One bite of everything is magical♥

My family makes me crazy. (I’m sure yours drives you crazy too!)
My daughter likes to spread the sauce on like its frosting and then only puts fish & cilantro.
My son loads his all up with all the veggies and it falls all over the plate, same as my husband.
Me? I like to have a big plate of arugula, with coleslaw on top, then mango & cilantro,
then the fish and the sauce drizzled as a dressing.

I’m ready for some warm weather, anyone else?