homemade panko tilapia fish tacos

Ever since "breaking veg" two years ago after being an almost life-long vegetarian, I've been a huge fan of white fish. Unlike other meats, which I still don't eat (pescetarian is my new dietary title, I suppose), white fish is light, flaky and mild. I first started eating it in it's junk-foodiest form: fish & chips. I used to joke that yes, I'm a vegetarian but I'll eat fish if it's battered and fried. 

From fish & chips I ventured into Mexican territory and a formed a love affair with the perfect little package of goodness known as the fish taco. My favourite fish tacos remain the baja style tacos from Chronic Tacos in Vancouver (they're a chain that started in California) but making my own FT's didn't occur to me until moving to Toronto where Chronic was nowhere to be found.  

The following is less of a recipe and more of an outline — I just sort of made it up as I went along, following a the classic dredging technique. I would have liked to make my own pico de gallo but store-bought salsa was on hand and fast and we were HUNGRY. Ditto for the slaw: our new kitchen isn't stocked properly yet so a few shortcuts were taken. Still delicious though, I promise you that. 

Panko Fish Tacos - An Outline

For the crispy fish:

• White fish (2 small ones or 1 fat one per person should cut it. I used frozen tilapia fillets that I thawed that morning)
• All-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten with ~1/4 cup of milk or water (I used almond milk)
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Mexican spices or seasoning mix (make your own with smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt) 
• Cooking oil (I used a mixture of canola and coconut oils)
• Small tortillas (preferably corn but we had to use flour ones because the store was out)

Heat a generous amount of oil in a frying pan on medium-high. Cut the fish into small strips about an inch wide and 4 inches long and pat dry with a paper towel. Lay out three dishes (I used plates for the dry components and a bowl for the egg). The first dish is for the flour, the next dish is for the beaten egg and milk, and the last dish is for the panko — in that order. Just eyeball the amounts and add more as you go if needed. 

Season all three components generously with the spices — the key is to add flavour at every point for optimal deliciousness. Start at the flour end of the assembly line and coat a couple pieces of fish at a time. Now move them into the egg mixture and coat them in there. Then drop them into the panko and coat them in there. Now you can transfer the fish into the hot oil pan and cook them on each side until golden brown, which should take about 5 minutes per side. Don't try to do all your fish at once, it'll get out of hand. Just be patient and enjoy the monotony of the assembly line. When you take the fish out of the pan, place the pieces on a plate lined with paper towel to soak up excess oil. 

For the coleslaw: 

• Coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage and carrots
• Mayonaise 
• Lime juice
• Mexican spices or seasoning mix (see above)

In a bowl mix about 1/2 cup of mayonaise with the juice of a lime. Season with mexican spices and taste to make sure it's not too sour. If it is, add more mayo. Then mix the dressing with the slaw.

We assembled our tacos on oven-warmed tortillas (wrap them in foil so they don't crisp up) and topped them with salsa. It was awesome. Would have been even better with some beer, just fyi. 

breakfast of champions: the "men's health" smoothie (peanut butter, banana, coffee, sunwarrior)

I'm a huge believer in the old adage that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day." It's important in that it is delicious and life isn't as great without delicious breakfast foods, right?

On any given day a few months ago you could find me eating breakfasts consisting of hard boiled eggs with cold veggies, scrambled eggs with cheese and a side of fruit, yogurt with granola and fruit, and of course egg sandwiches. Ohhhh egg sandwiches.

All photos from my Instagram (@stefinmotion) except for bottom right - that's the Spanglish sandwich. Image from here. 

(Sidenote: the egg sandwich you see up there may look familiar — it's from that adorable little movie Spanglish with Adam Sandler. The sandwich was developed by famous chef Thomas Keller and foodies everywhere went nuts for it. You can see how to make it step-by-step here.)

One thing all my favourite breakfast foods had in common? They all contained an allergen - eggs, and/or gluten, and/or dairy. So imagine my chagrin when my Naturopath put me on an elimination diet for a MONTH to figure out why my energy was low and why I was having other digestive problems. On this "diet" I was strictly required to cut out all allergens and the doctor recommended a daily breakfast of a smoothie made with frozen fruit, almond milk, and vegan protein powder. "This was going to be the hardest part," I thought, "RIP, breakfast."

I started on the elimination diet and didn't notice much difference after the month was up except for one thing: I loved the smoothies! (Oh and dairy was my enemy. My tummy's enemy. I still miss brie like an old best friend.) I wasn't allowed to eat bananas during that month because it is a common allergen so after the elimination portion was over, I developed the best. smoothie. ever. Here's the recipe:

The "Men's Health" Smoothie

Stu hilariously dubbed this smoothie the "Men's Health" smoothie because he said it sounded like something you'd find in the pages of that particular publication. Masculine. Strong. I guess? 

1 ripe banana (I used peeled, chopped and frozen bananas to thicken it)
1 cup almond milk (my favorite is Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla but any kind is fine)
1 scoop Vanilla Sunwarrior raw vegan protein powder
1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
1/3 cup cold coffee (If you only have warm, add ice to the smoothie)

optional: 3-4 ice cubes (if I was out of frozen bananas and only had fresh, I used ice to thicken the smoothie and cool it down)

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Drink as fast as you can (ok, not necessary but it's what I did).

just a taste

Here's a little moment of zen as I regroup my thoughts post-Portland-visit. Trying to fix a broken iPhone and getting ever more consumed by Middlesex is taking up a bit of time. There is much more where this came from...

It's my party and I'll drool if I want to

Today I turn the big 2-2. What a weird age. I feel like there are no more milestones until 30, then 40... OK ENOUGH

To celebrate my birthday, I present you to food that looks delicious. Who doesn't like a little eye-candy sometimes? If I weren't going out for epic Indian buffet with my famjam tonight, this is what I would be dreaming of eating...



Baked Lemon Pasta


Avocado Summer Wrap


Chickpea Salad


Sweet Potato Skins


Sunny side up on aparagus


MAC AND CHEESE GRILLED CHEESE. No link to a recipe but...I think the picture is enough. (EDIT: Found a Link)

FÜD

Eggs and Spinach in Tomato Sauce

I first made Eggs in Tomato Sauce from Smitten Kitchen a year ago and was hooked. It's the perfect way to use up leftover tomato sauce or canned tomatoes and it's such a flavourful and easy breakfast/brunch. For this version, I used spinach in the sauce and crumbled goat cheese on top. It was definitely my favourite incarnation of the recipe.

Here's some informal instructions on how to make your own version:

1. Warm the tomato sauce (I used leftover sauce from a pizza I made last night, plus some leftover canned tomatoes) in a non-stick frying pan and add some fresh spinach leaves. Cover so the spinach wilts.

2. Crack the eggs and add them to the pan one by one so you can space them evenly on the surface of the sauce. Season with S+P and cover so the whites cook.

3. When the whites are cooked and the yolks are still soft (or however your prefer your eggs) remove from the pan and crumble goat cheese or feta on top. Serve with a piece of toast!

It sounds kind of weird (Stu was skeptical when I first made this for him) but it is absolutely delicious and so satisfying.

recipe: Potato Pancakes with Paprika-Dill Cream

I made these potato pancakes for brunch this morning and was so impressed. I couldn't believe it only took me 20 mins start-to-finish! I usually make them with regular yellow onion but the green onion added such a nice freshness and this paprika-dill cream I dreamed up turned out really well. This is pretty enough to serve for a fancy brunch (you could make smaller-sized pancakes), but I just made it for myself.

Potato Pancakes with Paprika-Dill Cream

Makes four medium sized pancakes, serves 2 (or 1 if you’re hungry)

Ingredients:
1 large Russet potato
1 stalk of green onions, chopped
2 large eggs
¼ cup of pancake mix (I used gluten-free)
Salt and pepper to taste
Generous amount of olive or vegetable oil

3 tablespoons of plain yogurt (sour cream works too)
3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I used ½ fat mayo)
½ tsp of paprika
1 tsp dried dill (I would use fresh chopped dill if on hand)

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, crack the eggs and whisk them lightly. Peel the potato and shred it. Work quickly because it tends to go brown! Once shredded, squeeze the water out of the potato using cheesecloth or layered paper towel. Add the potato, green onion, pancake mix, and salt & pepper to the eggs and mix well. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, use a measuring cup (I used ¼ cup) to scoop out pancakes and place them in the pan. Cook on each side until golden brown (about 5-6 mins).

Sauce: Mix yogurt, mayonnaise, paprika, dill and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve pancakes with a dollop of cream and garnish with your favourite fresh herb.

Tell me if you make it and how it turns out! Potato pancakes are the single best way to consume potatoes in my opinion!