Lime marinated tilapia with a cornmeal crust. Served with brown rice tortillas these make a filling gluten free meal
V is a picky eater. He is not one who likes to experiment too much with his food. He can eat baingan ka bharta, toovar dal and roti every day of the week and still not complain. And till very recently he would not eat fish. When we moved to Dallas, I wanted this no-fish policy of his to change. I agree the smell of fish to some can make it a little hard for them to like it ( I am not a big fan of certain seafood too because I can not tolerate the smell) but with the health benefits that fish carry I wanted them to be a bigger part of our diets.
V, thankfully was receptive with the idea. Initially I made the fish with mustard and indian spices to suit his palate and then slowly have graduated to grilled fish and tacos. In spite of its relatively small amounts of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, I stick to tilapia for V, because of its mild taste. Plus, it still is a great source of protein.
I got this recipe from Healthy fats, low cholesterol cookbook I reviewed a few blog posts back and am slowly liking this book more. I need to modify the recipes a bit to suit our tastes but they are some really nice ideas and base recipes in the book.
I didn’t make the homemade roasted tomato salsa the recipe calls for since I had some ghost pepper salsa from Dallas based Gimme Emporium (only if you can handle the heat order the ghost pepper one else I will suggest ordering the medium salsa).
I served the cornmeal crusted tilapia with brown rice tortillas, cilantro, green onions, purple cabbage and radishes, little sour cream, some lime wedges and the salsa. Both V and I enjoyed it immensely and its something I look forward to making during the week.
- 2 tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 green onion
- 1-2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 6 brown rice tortillas (or any other of your choice)
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 2 medium radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 medium lime, cut into wedges
- jalapenos, optional (for added spice)
- Sprinkle the fish with lime juice on both sides. Mix the chilli, garlic, onion powder and salt and pepper. Sprinkle over both sides of fish. Press the mixture to make sure it adheres to the fish. Put on plate, cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to 1 hr.
- Put the cornmeal in a medium shallow bowl.
- Discard the marinade and dip fish in the cornmeal, turning to coat on both sides. Gently shake off excess. Using fingertips, gently press the coating so that it adheres to the fish.
- In a large non stick skillet, coated well with the oil, heat over medium high. Cook fish for 4-5 minutes each side or until it flakes when tested with a fork.
- Cut the fillets in half, or strips.
- Warm tortillas.
- Place fish in centre of tortilla. Spoon the salsa, and little sour cream (optional). Sprinkle with cabbage, radish, green onions, cilantro, jalapenos (optional). Serve with lime wedges.
Lucky you! No Fish Policy is reigning here big time. Though I have never cooked fish on my own, I love to have mom’s fish curries and pan fried, we also make biryanis! 😛 But alas, no fish in my kitchen. Tilapia with tacos and all those vibrant veggies will make any seafood hater to grab and eat! If I am not wrong, this fish has one too many bones right? but using fillet solves that! 😛 The usage of onion powder is new to me!
Would love to try your mom’s curries and pan fried fish and fish biryani – wow never tried fish biryani! I use fillets, I cant go through picking out so many bones!
Shumaila Chauhan recently posted..Tilapia Tacos
Husband simply has to have his daily fish for Lunch 🙂 – Tilapia, which I like, he hates and will not touch. Apparently a Malayalee will not eat this fish, because …… I am not to keen on fish out here, because of the bones (I am a little bit scared of them) and nobody here knows how to fillet a fish properly and I dont try 🙂 🙂 🙂
One thing does puzzle me a little bit – RED cabbage with fish???
Carina Simeon recently posted..Caribbean Sweet and Sour Mango Chicken
I can get why he hates Tilapia- real fish eaters don’t eat it. I love it though! I used to hate fish back in India too, mainly because taking the bones out was too much of an effort. Fillets are best for that! I did not know about red cabbage- is it a no-no? We learn everything new every day I guess, but a lot of people here serve fish with red cabbage especially in restaurants. Would love to know more.
Shumaila Chauhan recently posted..Tilapia Tacos
I love fish and I love tacos, but I’ve never gotten my head around the two combined. Interestingly, though, I recently told my husband and daughter that we needed to try fish tacos. I think this may be the recipe to get me there.
P.S. My husband would love ghost pepper salsa:)
Balvinder recently posted..Naturally Sweetened Beet Lemonade
My husband can handle more heat than I can but all his pores opened when he ate the ghost pepper salsa. We finished that bottle by putting only a tsp on our wraps and tacos, anything more is inviting trouble! Let me know if you get to try these tacos would love your feedback!
Shumaila Chauhan recently posted..Tilapia Tacos