Fish Tacos with Mango Chipotle Salsa

Two recipes in two days.  Not at all typical around here, I know, but I have to share.  Sometimes weeks go by without anything inspirational happening in the kitchen.  And sometimes amazing things happen more than once over the course of one weekend.  Like these Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa.  Wow.  Just wow.

It all started with some gorgeous mangoes that we brought home from Costco, and the need to make anything but chicken for dinner, because..."ugh, all we ever eat is chicken".

I was imagining mango salsa, and wondering how I could make fish appealing.  We eat a lot of chicken because it's easy, and everyone likes it.  Unlike fish, which is popular with less than half of this household.

Well, it would seem that I've just been preparing fish wrong, because these fish tacos were a hit.  The combination of a mild white fish, sriracha mayonnaise, avocados, and mango salsa is unbelievable.  

The star of the show is the mango salsa.  It would work with any kind of seafood, and it could easily become a new favourite dip for tortilla chips.

It's good enough to convert even the most die-hard fish hater.

Fish Tacos with Mango Chipotle Salsa

1 small lime, zested and juiced

1 large mango, diced (click here to see the best way to peel and dice a mango)

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients.  Let sit for 30 minutes so flavours can blend.  

To make fish tacos, bake or pan fry a mild white fish.  I used basa loins and seasoned them with lemon pepper.

Assemble the fish tacos by rolling up fish, sriracha mayonnaise, mango salsa, and diced avocado in a tortilla shell.  I used flour tortillas because that's what I had, but it would be good in a corn tortilla shell too.

Sriracha mayonnaise can be store bought, or easily made by whisking together 3 parts mayonnaise with one part sriracha sauce.

Enjoy!

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Avocado Quinoa Brownies

I've been getting pretty sneaky in kitchen lately, and becoming a expert at hiding nutritious ingredients in the food I prepare.  My kids aren't opposed to the idea of eating healthy foods, but their palates are less refined, their tastes are not always adventurous, and they still turn up their noses at less conventional foods.  If they're looking for a treat, they would choose something refined and sugary over protein and fibre.  If I want them to eat enough of the good stuff, sometimes I have to disguise it.  Our banana, berry, and yogurt smoothies also have spinach and avocado in them.  Most of the muffins I bake include quinoa, flax, and chia.  I hide finely chopped veggies in sauces and stews.  Pureed dates sweeten baked goods instead of sugar.  And they have no idea that the tuna salad in their sandwiches is hiding sardines and avocado.  Most of the time no one notices, the food tastes good, and everyone's happy.  But there have been a few failures along the way.  I'm still struggling with homemade granola bars, and I haven't quite nailed a few cookie recipes I've been working on, but I think I've figured out brownies.

I shared this photo of black bean brownies a while ago.  They were my first attempt at healthifying brownies, and they tasted great, but the texture was terrible and they fell apart as soon as they came out of the pan.  

I haven't abandoned black bean brownies yet, and I have plans to modify the recipe a bit, but in the meantime I made up a batch of avocado quinoa brownies.  And they were amazing, fudgey and chocolatey, just as a brownie should be.

I might increase the amounts next time, or use a smaller pan, as they were a little on the flat side.  There was an ever-so-slight crunch from the quinoa, which I liked and the kids didn't really notice.  Maybe I could cook the quinoa a bit longer.  Other than that, I won't change a thing.  These are really good brownies.

Feeling sneaky?  Or just craving chocolate?  Either way, these are what you need.

Avocado Quinoa Brownies

1 avocado, mashed

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup agave syrup

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cocoa (I used dark cocoa)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Prepare an 8x8 pan.  I usually put parchment in the bottom.  Stir together the wet ingredients with the quinoa and brown sugar and combine.  One of my teenagers walked into the room at this point and told me it looked like vomit.  Charming.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa.  I used dark cocoa, which has a slightly bitter taste.  Next time I might try half regular cocoa and half dark cocoa.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 20 min, or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out almost clean.  A completely clean toothpick means overcooked brownies.  Cool in pan.

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