The past few months have been filled with breastfeeding, diaper changes, lullabies and discovering new recipes. Parental leave has been an amazing time as I bond with Liam and discover a whole new side of myself as a mother. But I could not lose sight of what I’ve always loved doing, which is cooking. Cooking is like therapy for me and it was just what I needed to do between all the breastfeeding sessions because mamas got to eat too. I rediscovered my favorite cookbook, Cravings, and some recipes I had yet to try. I stumbled on these delicious fried fish tacos and knew I needed to make them.
This summer’s been heat wave after heat wave and which posed some challenges when it came to cooking. I wanted to limit my oven and stove usage as much as possible. These fried fish tacos only required the stove for less then 10 minutes and the rest was chopping up the vegetables. Everything about this recipe screamed summer with its vibrant colors and fresh ingredients.
Fried Fish Tacos, a love song to summer and margaritas.
The recipe calls for tilapia or your favorite white fish. I decided to use cod because I feel like it’s a little meatier and my grocery store had a sale (every dollar counts now with our LO). Once I got cooking, I found out the reason it was on sale: I had to pull out the bones myself. I had a very intimate time with the fish; feeling it up to make sure I got every single bone out. I don’t know if anyone’s ever choked on a fish bone before, but it’s the most traumatizing experience. Once the deboning was complete the rest was a piece of cake. I rubbed the fish down with a combination of paprika, cayenne pepper, olive oil, salt and pepper. I cooked it quickly in my cast iron skillet and set it aside.
Usually I’d prep everything else while the main ingredient was cooking, however fish cooks so quickly that I prepped the other ingredients first. Chrissy pairs these tacos with her mother’s spicy pepper sauce and it works perfectly. Warning the sauce is a little funky because it uses fish sauce, but don’t let this turn you away. I don’t know what I used fish sauce in before, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle in my fridge.
After a few nights of these fried fish tacos, we still had leftovers of the vegetables. These days, I’m being a little more resourceful with my leftovers. My mom came to visit a few days later and I used the extra fish sauce, spicy mayo and cabbage to make her a slaw. She absolutely loved it!
Love this recipe.
Brian and I loved this recipe so much we may or may not have had it four days in a row. If anyone knows me, I hate eating the same thing more than two days in a row. So four days is a big freaking deal. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, you have to go out and get this cookbook! I’ve already preordered the second one coming this month! I cannot wait to share my next parental leave dish!
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