Spicy Fish Tacos

These are the fish tacos of my dreams: a combo of spicy seared fish and zippy slaw tucked into a corn tortilla and drizzled with creamy sauce.

Spicy Fish Tacos

Sauce:
1-½ tablespoons light sour cream
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1-½ teaspoons lime juice
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Sea salt, to taste

Spice Mix:
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Remaining ingredients:
2 (6-ounce) white fish fillets (catfish, halibut and long-line caught swordfish all work great, but you can use any firm, white fish)
2 tablespoons Spice Mix
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon butter
8 small corn tortillas
2 cups Essential Coleslaw
¼ cup cilantro, or 8 sprigs
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl, whisk together Sauce ingredients and set aside.

Combine all Spice Mix ingredients in a small bowl (extra spice mix can be kept, tightly sealed, for up to 3 months). Rub each side of fillets with Spice Mix. Heat oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fillets and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove to a plate and tent with foil.

Have a 16-inch square of foil ready by the stove. Heat 2 tortillas in a large, stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat for 60-90 seconds per side, until slightly blistered. When cooked, wrap them (together) in the foil. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

When tortillas are ready, place two on each plate. Divide fish, slaw and cilantro between the tortillas. Spritz with lime and drizzle with Sauce.

Serves 4

Nectarine Blackberry Cobbler with Coconut-Oat Topping

This show-stopping cobbler recipe–featuring peak-of-season nectarines and blackberries–has half the sugar and butter you’d find in a regular cobbler recipe, yet packs a much richer flavor thanks to whole oats, raw coconut, sour cream and lemon zest.

nectarine-blackberry-cobbler

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Real Greek Salad

I used to make this Greek salad at the “Souvlaki Stand” on the island of Corfu. To this day, it remains my favorite summer salad. It’s classic. It’s simple. It can be a meal or a side. It’s the epitome of summer vegetables in their simple glory.

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Sticky-Spicy Sauteed Asian Eggplant

Not everyone is an eggplant lover. But this eggplant recipe may change that. Long, slender Asian eggplant are no-fuss, and soak up the spicy, sweet, sticky sauce they’re doused with when creamy and tender. This is a hearty, gluten-free, vegetarian main course paired with brown rice, quinoa or even wheat berries, but would also make a terrific side dish.

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Lia’s Best Barbecue Ribs Recipe

A pressure cooker makes this sublimely tender, shot-through-with-flavor-to-the-bone barbecue ribs recipe possible in under an hour using the same technique as our Last-Minute Corned Beef From Scratch. Given their quick and easy nature, and the proliferation of really good bottled barbecue sauces out there, I opted not to take the extra step of making a sauce from scratch. When choosing your sauce, look for as few ingredients as possible (ideally all “real” words) with real sugar or honey or molasses or maple syrup as a sweetener, rather than high fructose corn syrup.

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Tomato Salad with Green Beans, Corn and Bulgur

This tomato salad is the perfect fresh-from-the-garden all-purpose summer side dish for the season. It’s bursting with green beans, tomatoes, corn and cucumbers, with toothsome bulgur adding just a touch of heft (and healthy whole grain) while soaking up the tangy dressing.

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Tangy Smashed Potato Salad with Goat Cheese

This potato salad recipe is a bit like a Nourishified stuffed potato. It’s got all the fixins you love — sour cream, bacon, chives, and even goat cheese — but in proportions that amp up flavor without making you feel like you just ate a house. Take it to your Fourth of July picnic, or serve it with barbecued ribs and Slow Cooked Molasses-Honey Baked Beans.

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Fregola Salad with White Beans and Arugula

Fregola is an Italian rolled pasta similar to Israeli couscous, and it’s wonderfully toothsome in this summer salad. Think of it as a new twist on old-school pasta salad. If you can’t find fregola (or wanted to go gluten free), millet would be a great substitute. Top with a few chunks of good quality tuna packed in olive oil (unless you want to keep it vegan) and you’ve got a nice, hearty, nourishing meal.

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Fudgy Black Bean Brownies with Sea Salt

I love these fudgy, black bean brownies, which I originally found here on Minimalist Baker, for many reasons. For one, all you do is blam a few ingredients in the food processor, spoon the batter into a mini muffin tin and bake (now that’s my kind of baking recipe). For another, the whole baking-brownies-in-a-mini-muffin pan thing is genius–no breakage, no muss, no fuss, and they’re cute to boot. And yet another, they’re made with black beans in lieu of flour. There’s all kinds of fiber and goodness in this gluten-free brownie recipe, and yet all you’re going to hear on the receiving end is “man, these are AWESOME.” 

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Slow-Roasted Mechoui (Moroccan-Spiced Leg of Lamb)

I was lucky enough to nab a leg of organic, sustainably-raised lamb from Montana’s Willow Spring Ranch at Shelton’s Market for this and was rewarded with succulent, juicy meat spiked through with Moroccan spice. To find a source for grass-fed lamb (and other meats) near you for your Easter meal, check out Eat Wild. Serve this with quinoa, mixed greens, sliced black olives, thick slices of orange, thinly sliced fennel and red onion tossed with the dressing from this salad here.

Slow Roasted Mechoui Lamb

5 garlic cloves
1/2 medium onion
1 small lemon, trimmed of top and bottom, quartered and seeded
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup pomegranate syrup (or 1/2 orange juice and 1/2 honey)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
5-6 pound boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat

Puree garlic through olive oil in a blender or food processor. Stir in salt. Lay lamb in a shallow dish or roasting pan and carefully pierce deeply all over with a paring knife. Slather on the marinade, pushing into the holes, then coat all over with any remaining marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325. Transfer lamb to a Dutch oven, cover and roast for 3-1/2 to 4 hours, until lamb is fork tender. Let rest for 20 minutes, then pull apart into large chunks to serve.

Serves 8