Tropical Paradise Fish Tacos

One of my favorite books as a kid was called Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise. In the story, our canine protagonist wards off the Winter Blues by turning his apartment into a…wait for it…tropical paradise. Sorry for the spoiler. I’ve never been too good at keeping secrets.

The funny part is that I grew up in Los Angeles, where the only snow I ever saw existed in retail store window displays. When I moved to the east coast, I half expected to find a bunch of talking dogs to go with all the snow.  So far, I haven’t found Moe and I’m missing the heck out of the tropical paradise called Southern California.

As much as I love soup (see: the past zillion Pantry Raids), I am totally jealous of the Californians in my life who are probably reading this post on the beach or over chilly iced coffees on their patios. So, I’ve channeled my inner Moe and created my own tropical paradise in the form of these awesome fish tacos.

The spices and lime do wonderful things to infuse the cod with flavors of mellow heat and bold tang. I ate the leftover fish for lunch with a side of rice and it was great too, so even if you don’t want to do the whole taco ordeal, give this recipe a shot.

Ingredients (serves 4)

Pan-Fried Cod

• ½ pound Atlantic Cod

• Juice of 1 lime

• 2 teaspoons Cumin

• 1 teaspoon Chile powder

• 2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika

• 1 teaspoon Garlic salt

• ½ teaspoon Sea salt

• 1 teaspoon Black pepper

• 2 tablespoons grape seed or canola oil

Suggested Taco Add-Ons

• Small corn tortillas, heated on a non-stick skillet

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced

• 1 can refried beans, heated

• 1 lime, sliced into wedges

• Chili Garlic Aioli (recipe below)

1. Rinse fish and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a baking dish or pie pan. 2. Add lime juice and spices to dish, turning fish to coat. 3. Cover and refrigerate for approximately 20 minutes. 4. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet. Once hot, add fish. Gently flip after about 3 minutes, once fish has a slight char. Cook until flakey and just opaque.

To make chili garlic aioli, combine crushed garlic, chili powder, and mayonnaise to taste. I like mine super spicy, which means lots and lots of garlic.