Baja Fish Tacos

We preferred these on the flour tortillas but the corn tortillas made such a pretty picture!

Ingredients

1 lime, juiced

1 lb. fresh red snapper fillets, cut into 3X1 inch strips (I used mahi mahi)

1/4 cup flour

2 T yellow cornmeal

1 T chili powder

1 1/2 t. crushed dried oregano leaves

1 t. cumin powder

1/2 t. salt

Canola oil for frying

8 (7" size) corn or flour tortillas, wrapped in foil and kept warm in a 250 degree oven

2 cups green cabbage, shredded (I used coleslaw mix)

Quartered limes

Salsa

Sliced avocado

Preparation

Toss the fish pieces in the fresh lime juice and marinate for ten minutes. Meanwhile combine the flour, cornmeal, chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt in a large, shallow bowl.

Heat the canola oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a small amount of flour sizzles when flicked into the pan. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture and fry in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

Serve in tortillas topped with cabbage and drizzled with Chipotle Cream. Pass limes, salsa and avocado at the table.

***Chipotle Cream***

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

2 chipotle chilies in adobo, minced (I removed as many seeds as I could)

1/2 lime juiced

1 dash sugar

salt to taste

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl and add salt to taste. Let stand at least 10 minutes to let flavors blend. May be made up to a day ahead. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

The Chipotle cream is what makes this recipe!

Spiced Slow Cooker Pork

I've been looking for a lower sugar version of pork to use in our "Cafe Rio" style salad and this recipe is perfect! I know the photo isn't really appetizing. There's a reason that "food photographers" cheat and don't take photos of real food.

Ingredients

1 cup thick barbecue sauce

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 cans (4.5oz) diced green chilies

3 T. chili powder

1 t. ground cumin

1 t. dried oregano

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1 boneless pork shoulder roast, 2 1/2 to 3 pounds, trimmed

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Preparation

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl. Place pork in crockpot; pour sauce mixture over the pork, lifting pork slightly so sauce will flow under the roast. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until pork is very tender. Remove pork to a cutting board and chop or shred with forks. If sauce is very liquid, cook down on stove until desired thickness and flavor is reached. Pour sauce into a serving bowl or leave in slow cooker; stir in cilantro and the shredded pork. Serve with flour tortillas or split sandwich buns.

Serves 8

Recipe by Diana Rattray

Chicken Burritos

When you haven't been grocery shopping with a menu in a very long time (like me). You make things you might not consider otherwise. This is one of those "otherwise" recipes. All healthy ingredients (which was my first priority), very easy to make (my other first priority) and in spite of the non-traditional ingredients surprisingly good!

I'll make these again.

Here's what the filling looked like before rolling them up. Kind of pretty huh?

I'm not a huge fan of whole wheat tortillas but I found a La Flor whole wheat uncooked tortilla at Macey's that is pretty good.

And here is what mine looked like while I was eating it.

These were very filling. You could totally fatten these up with cheese and sour cream or a number of other traditional burrito ingredients but not me...not today. I'm trying to behave in the cholesterol, fat, whole food category and recipes like this make it easy.

Ingredients

1 medium green pepper, chopped (I used a mixture of red and green)

1 medium zucchini, chopped

12 oz. chicken breast, cooked, skinless, cubed

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed or fresh

1/2 small onion, minced

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. chili powder

4 T green sauce (optional but so good)

6 flour tortillas

2 cups salsa

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F

In a nonstick pan, lightly saute pepper and onion until slightly cooked, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the zucchini, chicken, corn, green sauce and saute for 1 - 2 minutes more. Do NOT overcook. Nobody likes mushy zucchini!

Add the cumin, chili powder and sour cream.

Divide mixture among 6 tortillas. Fold in sides and roll closed. Place opening-side down in a baking pan, cover burritos with salsa. Bake until tortillas begin to brown and filling warms through, 15 - 20 minutes.

Serves 6

8 points-4 of those are the tortilla

Fish Tacos

In a medium bowl, toss:

2 cups shredded lettuce

1 diced avocado

1/3 c. chopped cilantro

tomatoes (optional)

1 T. lime juice

2 t. olive oil

Set aside and prepare the fish:

1 lb thin fish fillets

kosher salt

cumin

Coat the fish with the salt and cumin. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add fish; cook 5-7 minutes, turning once, until just cooked through. Remove fish to a plate and break into chunks.

Fill 8 warmed tortillas with lettuce mixture and fish. Top with salsa if desired.

I liked the corn tortillas but my son didn't. So next time I'll try using small flour tortillas and maybe even premade taco shells.

Recipe from Women's Day Magazine September 2010 These were really easy and quite tasty.

Chipotle Pork or Beef

A recipe from my friend Shelly

1 can of Chipotle in Adobo sauce
1 beef or pork roast (I prefer pork)

Pour Chipotle over the roast in a crock pot and cook until tender.
Remove the meat and shred (discarding the Adobo sauce) and serve in tortillas with rice and mango salsa.