Fresh and flavorful, this meal is a perfect fit with your New Years Resolutions! Baked seasoned cod and crisp cilantro slaw, wrapped in a corn tortilla and topped with Lime Crema sauce. It’s delicious, light and will leave you feeling great!
Now that the Holidays are over, I’m excited to get back into meal planning and cooking regular meals, and overall eating a more balanced diet. It’s fun to enjoy the rich food and tastes of the season, but it certainly takes a toll on how well I feel! This meal offers fresh veggies, whole grains, leaner proteins, and a light but satisfying feeling. There is absolutely no added sugar in this meal at all--and you really don't miss it!
Fish is not something I often cook—my husband doesn’t care for it. He loves to fish in the woods, but he doesn’t like to eat it. Because of this, one of my favorite restaurant meals is Fish Tacos. I’ll be honest, I love the crunchy battered fish. But frying food at home is just stressful, and not as “gut-friendly”, so I decided to bake this fish. It was unbelievably easy, and turned out delicious! Even my not-so-into-fish husband thought it tasted pretty good—and that’s saying something!
The cilantro slaw is super easy too—combine shredded cabbage and fresh chopped cilantro. You can also throw in green onions and a little purple cabbage for color. The Lime Crema sauce is made from Greek yogurt, lime juice, salt, lime rind and a little mayo. It’s simple to whip up and provides a great flavor for the cabbage and fish.
This fish taco meal is surprisingly light, so I paired it with cilantro lime rice and black beans. There is nothing fancy to these beans—I literally opened the can and heated them up. But it was enough since there are some bold flavors in the tacos. All of this was done in about 30 minutes. So easy, so fresh and absolutely delicious!
A few more tips—Corn tortillas are great because they are whole grain and light compared to flour tortillas. I recommend warming up your corn tortillas before wrapping them around your taco. I lightly sprayed a large fry pan and heated each side of the tortilla for about 30 seconds.
Also, I recommend thawing the fish out before cooking it. This will save you cook time. Thaw it in the fridge overnight, or you can place it in a bowl of cool water in the sink for about 20 minutes. The test of done-ness for fish is that it is no longer translucent, and that it flakes easily. I find the best way to serve this up is to flake the whole fillet and stir it up in the lime juice/seasonings before placing it in the tortillas.
Also of note—if you are someone who just can’t stand fish (I know my husband is not the only one)—you can absolutely substitute diced chicken in this recipe. I made this last night with the chicken and it cooked up great, and went well with the Lime Crema and Cilantro Slaw. In fact, I ate the leftover chicken and cilantro lime rice for lunch today. Yum!
For my kids, I’ve talked before about pairing something familiar with something new. I gave them all a little bit of fish, and a few fish sticks. I’m really trying to ease them into liking fish so that I can cook it up for family dinner more often. Then I gave them peppers, and cabbage, rice and a mini-tortilla with a little cheese in it. They had plenty of food to choose from, and were able to sample several new flavors. It was definitely a success.
The Meal:
2 Lime Cod fish tacos (total 6 oz fish, 1 cup slaw)
2 Tbsp Lime Crema
½ cup Cilantro Lime Rice
¼ cup black beans
4 mini sweet peppers with ranch
Recipe Used in this meal:
Lime Fish Tacos with Cilantro Slaw
Serving size: 2 tacos
Servings per Recipe: 6
Ingredients
2 ½ lbs cod (thawed)
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lime juice
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 ½ tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
12 corn tortillas
Cilantro Slaw
6 cups shredded cabbage
¾ cup chopped cilantro (fresh)
2 stalks green onion
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. Place cod in a gaking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, lime juice, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour over cod and all to marinate for 5 minutes. Flip Cod fillets to coat.
Bake cod for 15-20 minutes. The fish should flake easily with a fork when done.
In a large bowl, combine shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, and green onion. Toss to mix.
When cod is done baking, use forks to flake into bitesize pieces. Stir to coat with seasoning. Warm corn tortillas in a skillet. Portion out tacos: ½ cup of slaw, 3 oz fish per tortilla. Top with 1 Tbsp Lime Crema. Serve immediately.
Lime Crema Sauce
Serving size: 2 Tbsp
Servings per Recipe: 6
Ingredients
¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp lime zest
¾ tsp salt
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Whip with a whisk until blended and smooth
Serve chilled with Lime Fish Tacos.
Cilantro Lime Rice
Serving Size: ½ cup cooked
Servings per Recipe: 6
Ingredients
1 ½ cups white rice
½ Tbsp olive oil
3 cups of water
2 ½ tsp chicken bouillon or soup base
1 Tbsp cilantro (fresh/chopped)
2 ½ Tbsp lime juice
Directions:
Heat oil in a fry pan over medium-high heat. Sauté rice to brown it slightly. Keep it moving constantly as it can easily burn.
Pour rice into rice cooker, add water and bouillon. Start rice cooker.
Rinse and chop cilantro. When rice is done cooking, stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts Label for Entire Meal:
Nutrition Facts Label for Lime Fish Tacos with Cilantro Slaw:
Nutrition Facts Label for Lime Crema:
Nutrition Facts Label for Cilantro Lime Rice:
