Main Dishes, Recipes, Seafood and Fish

Mystery Dish: Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa

Welcome to December Mystery Dish! Should be a good post for my last recipe of the year. I didn’t intend to take a two week break, but it’s been nice to unplug. 🙂 Sherri at The Well Floured Kitchen was this month’s host for Mystery Dish, and the ingredients she chose for us included: Dark Chocolate, Greek Yogurt, Berries, Coconut Oil, Walnuts, Fish, Baby Spinach, and Pecorino Romano Cheese. We had to use at least two, and I chose to use fish and berries… cranberries to be specific. I know cranberries aren’t always thought of as traditional ‘berries’ but they are in season and I love them so I wanted to use them! For more info on berries, check out Wikipedia. 🙂

Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa | thepajamachef.com

Ben helped extensively with this recipe–he came up with the idea to make fish tacos, and I wanted to try my hand at a cranberry salsa. Fruit salsas are so complimentary to fish tacos, and this one, though a little more tart than most, was absolutely amazing. I used two types of fresh herbs [rosemary and parsley] and tangerine to flavor it up, then added a little sweetness and tartness with honey and red raspberry vinegar. My goal was to make the salsa be different from my usual cranberry relish [fresh cranberries, sugar, and an orange], and I think I succeeded!

Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa | thepajamachef.com

While I was cranberry salsa-ing it up, Ben was busy preparing the fish tacos. He’s the fish taco expert in the family, and decided to season the tilapia with some olive oil and vinegar–but not just your average olive oil and vinegar. He used some special blood orange-infused olive oil and coconut-infused white balsamic vinegar from the Bumble Olive Oil Company in his hometown [Toledo, Ohio]. If you can get your hands on these infused oils, DO IT! So good. But if not, use extracts or juices to create the same effect. The result? A sweet, tender, flaky fish that pairs so well with some tart salsa and crunchy cabbage. I also whipped up some Mexican rice with dinner… aka my favorite side ever. Yum yum and yum! Hope you enjoy!

one year ago: White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies
two years ago: Classic Sugar Cookies
three years ago: Cranberry Scones

Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa
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Ingredients:

  • 3-4 tilapia filets [frozen or fresh]
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil [mine was blood-orange infused]*
  • 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar [mine was coconut infused]*
  • 1/4 of a sweet yellow onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tangerine, sliced and seeded [leave on peel]
  • 1/2 cup parsley
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons red raspberry vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • salt
  • tortillas, for serving
  • chopped red cabbage, for serving
  • lime wedges, for serving
  • sour cream, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, then place tilapia filets in baking dish. Combine olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl, then brush mixture over tilapia, turning to coat. Cook for 13-15 minutes or until fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. If you use fresh fish, the cook time will be reduced.

Meanwhile, combine onion, garlic, and tangerine in a food processor. Pulse until nearly smooth, then add parsley, rosemary, vinegar, honey, and cranberries. Pulse a few times to break up cranberries, then season with pepper and salt to taste.

Gently slice fish into strips, then serve in tortillas with cabbage and sour cream, squeezing lime wedges overtop before enjoying.

Time: 25 minutes.

Yield: 3-4 servings.

Note: I used infused evoo and balsamic vinegar. You can add a few drops of coconut or orange extract for a similar flavor profile, or a little orange juice or zest.

Please check out the rest of the Mystery Dish posts when you have a chance too. They all look SO delicious!

Mystery Dish Collage

1. Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Buttercream Fanatic
2. Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Cookies from Chez Catey Lou
3. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart from The Dessert Chronicles
4. Berry Chocolate Streusel Bars from Baking a Moment
5. Green Berry Smoothie from I Want Crazy
6. Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa from The Pajama Chef
7. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Brownies from Joyful Healthy Eats
8. Healthy Homemade Granola Parfait from Yummy Healthy Easy
9. Pear Cranberry Crockpot Oatmeal from See Hubby Cook
10. Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from Culinary Couture
11. Raspberry Chocolate Crumb Bars from I Dig Pinterest
12. Dark Chocolate Walnut Coconut Macaroon Fingers from The Well Floured Kitchen

Beans, Main Dishes, Recipes

{Green} Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Oops. After sharing that awesome guacamole salsa last week I never came back with these yummy vegetarian enchiladas! I was too busy finishing what I hope to be the FINAL draft of my thesis! Woohoo. But here they are now. GREEN enchiladas! How fun, methinks.

{Green} Bean & Cheese Enchiladas | The Pajama Chef

These enchiladas are pretty simple, but full of flavor. Refried beans–a healthy version–plus a dab of cream cheese for creaminess makes up the filling for the soft tortillas. Then these tortillas are basically bathed in that fresh guacamole salsa and topped with more cheese. Yum and yum and yum, right? Ben and I found them to be ridiculously addictive and filling… they were gone in three days, tops.

{Green} Bean & Cheese Enchiladas | The Pajama Chef

I know these enchiladas are far from traditional–no real enchilada sauce and flour tortillas instead of corn… but I hope you don’t mind too much, because they just taste so darn good. Plus they are pretty. Can’t beat pretty food! Enjoy! 🙂

{Green} Bean and Cheese Enchiladas
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Ingredients:

  • 1 batch Guacamole Salsa
  • 2 1/2 cups refried beans – I used this awesome healthified version from Rachel Cooks
  • 4 ounces cream cheese – I used Neufchâtel
  • 8 soft tortillas
  • 4 ounces shredded cheese – I used half Extra Sharp Cheddar, half Monterey Jack

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread 1 cup Guacamole Salsa in the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together refried beans and cream cheese [microwave the beans first so the cream cheese melts]. Then divide the beans between the tortillas, roll up, and line in pan.

Top with another 1 1/2 cups Guacamole Salsa [or more if desired], then cover with shredded cheese.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese has melted.

Time: 30 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings.