(Crunchy, creamy, tangy) Homemade Fish Tacos

It is officially Leo season, y'all, and the universe (Pinterest) has FINALLY blessed me with the perfect homemade fish taco. Fish tacos and I have a long and beautiful love story beginning at the best Mexican restaurant in the world, Dos Palmas (duh). I have been trying (and failing) to make delicious, crunchy, creamy, tangy, fish tacos that rival theirs at my house for at least 4 years. I started by trying to find a good baked fish recipe, gave up, tried grilled for a little while, then came back to baked because I just need the crunch. My fiance loves to embarrass me by telling people about the time I sunk so low that I actually used Trader Joe's fish sticks in our fish tacos.  This is how hard I was convinced that my baked crispy fish future was doomed.  I have made/bought countless versions of chipotle mayo only to find them too smoky or too heavy. You can imagine my surprise after all these years of disappointment that today. magic. happened. in. my. kitchen. The fish taco Gods shined down on me and this gorgeous thing you see before you entered the world. *I cannot take credit for each recipe individually; I can only take credit for hunting them down and combining them.* Nonetheless, I consider it a victory. Just for the record, I'm not even a little bit embarrassed by the dramatic manner in which I have illustrated this experience.

Serves: 2
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

**I'm going to break this down in pieces to make it as easy as possible. I like to make the slaw and sauce first so they can meld while you make the fish!

For the Chipotle mayo:

Ingredients:
- 1/2 C mayonnaise
- 1/2 C sour scream (I used reduced fat)
- 2 chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce (in a can in the Mexican food aisle)
- 1/4 tsp oregano
Directions: combine all ingredients in the food processor and pulse until smooth, refrigerate until ready to use

For the slaw: 

Ingredients:
- 8oz cole slaw mix (1/2 bag)
- 1/4 C white onion, diced
- 1/3 C mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions: Combine cole slaw mix and onion, stir, combine all remaining ingredients, stir, and pour over cole slaw/onions. Refrigerate until ready to use **I like to add extra purple cabbage and shredded carrots for color, totally optional!


For the fish:

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb tilapia, cut into long strips as equal as possible
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs (I used a combo of whole wheat panko and regular breadcrumbs)
- juice from 1/4 lime
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 450
- combine lime juice and oil in a shallow bowl
- combine breadcrumbs, paprika, salt and pepper in another bowl
- prepare a greased baking sheet
- create an assembly line of sorts on the counter, fish pieces> oil > breadcrumbs > baking sheet
- roll each piece of fish one at a time in the oil, dredge in the breadcrumbs and then place on the baking sheet. press the breadcrumbs into the fish to make sure each piece is fully covered
- bake for 8-9 minutes until crispy and golden

To assemble your tacos, warm 4 corn or flour tortillas and fill with each with 1/4 fish, a spoonful of slaw and a drizzle of chipotle mayo. I like pickled jalapeños on mine if you're in the mood for a little kick. Thank the good sweet Lord for Mexican food.

**You will definitely have leftover Chipotle mayo and may have leftover slaw depending on how much you like. Store in airtight container for future culinary creations!

Shakshuka!! (poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce)

Hey y'all!

I have been dying to post this recipe since last week when I made it for the first time. It was one of those that I knew I wanted to post the first time I tried it, alas, I forgot the parsley at the end and therefore my pictures were not pretty enough. Luckily I remembered today. So now you can all have a taste of this beautiful Middle-Eastern magic. I discovered shakshuka when I searched on Pinterest for "recipes with feta cheese" because #priorities. I would eat anything with feta in it. No questions asked. As I understand (thanks to the UmamiGirl blog I adapted this recipe from), shakshuka originated in North Africa and is now served in many Middle-Eastern countries, oftentimes for breakfast or brunch. It also makes a delicious and easy dinner. It's traditionally vegetarian, but I threw some sausage in mine just for fun. You can leave the meat out if you'd like! Don't forget to serve with crusty bread, as crusty bread makes everything better.

Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 can diced tomatoes (I like it with no salt added)
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 C fresh spinach
- 2-4 eggs (depending on how hungry you are)
- 1/4-1/2 lb italian sausage, depending on how much meat you want (I used 1/3 lb hot italian chicken sausage)
- 1/4 C crumbled feta cheese
- 4 tsp miced garlic
- 3/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes *optional if you don't want it spicy
- 1/2 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- parsley (so it's pretty)
- toasted crusty bread, I like the take and bake baguettes from my grocery store bakery

Directions:

- Heat your olive oil in a large skillet that has a lid over medium heat
- Saute your onion, bell pepper and sausage until sausage is browned and crumbled and your veggies are tender (about 7 minutes), add spinach for the last two minutes so it can wilt.
- Add cumin, paprika, salt, garlic, red pepper and black pepper (to taste) and stir
- Pour in tomatoes (undrained) and let simmer for about 15 minutes so the mixture can thicken
- Stir in feta
- Create 4 small wells in your tomato sauce and crack an egg in each one
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cover the pan
- Cook for 10-15 minutes until eggs are set *I put my bread in the oven while the eggs are setting*
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve!!


Here's the final product!

And here's a picture before the eggs have been cooked: