Ten Minute Tacos

I would like to make a recommendation before embarking on my ten minute taco recipe. If you like tacos and you are around the Triangle area, you must try the Taqueria La Vaquita in Durham. Its a cute little shack with a huge plastic cow on the roof. There's very limited outside seating but the food is fresh, simple and really good! Their tacos have handmade tortillas, flavorful fillings and come topped with radishes, onions and cilantro. Very good!

Image above is from http://lavaquitanc.com

But with all the rain and cold weather we have here now, outdoor seating is a thing of the past and the Taqueria is currently out of reach. So I tried to satisfy taco cravings at home with this super fast black bean salad taco. I made the salad by combining all the taco filling ingredients together and dressing them with some lime juice and spices. I had some radishes and lettuce from our CSA this week which made a great addition to this salad. I didn't have any cilantro or jalapenos on hand but they would definitely be super in this too. For the taco shells, I used corn tortillas from Trade Joe's. Incidentally A found that microwaving these with a damp paper napkin makes them seem almost as fresh as the tacos at at La Vaquita. Almost :)

Ingredients:

1 14oz can of black beans, rinsed well and drained
1 avocado
1 tomato
1/4 onion
2 small radishes
1 cup, chopped lettuce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 lime

8 corn tortillas

- Chop the avocado, tomato, onions and radishes and combine with the black beans.
- Add the lime juice, salt and all the spices. Mix well, adjusting spices as per preference.
- Microwave the corn tortillas, covered with a moist paper napkin.
- Spoon the black bean salad filling on the taco shells and serve!

Makes 8 tacos.

Baja Fish Tacos

I grew up in Mumbai eating a lot of fish. Fish curry, fried fish, a lot of fish. Then I met A, then boyfriend now husband who didnt eat any fish at all. We also moved to the States and the fish didn't look familiar anymore. So I gave up on fish for a while. Sigh. And then the most incredulous thing happened, we went to a sushi restaurant and A actually ate sushi! I mean you must eat cooked fish first to even try raw fish, right? But anyways he liked it and I renewed my relationship with fish. Now Tilapia is a staple in our cooking and Fish Tacos have come close to displacing fish curry as my favorite fish dish.

I think a post on Fish Tacos would be incomplete without a mention of K38. We discovered it (thanks to my lovely friend AM) this summer when we spent a weekend in Wrightsville beach. I think the best part of the Baja Fish Tacos in K38 is the yogurt based sauce drizzled liberally over the crispy fish. Hmmm.

So I had to attempt this yogurt sauce (otherwise we would be driving three hours to Wrightsville every so often). I used sour cream and yogurt along with some cumin, paprika. Its not the same but it comes pretty close. Also instead of deep frying the fish, I pan fry it with a marinade and without any batter. K38 serves their tacos with shredded red cabbage. I thought that was a fabulous idea, I have eaten a lot of fish but don't remember any fish dishes with cabbage. So my fish tacos are also topped with red cabbage. Here goes:

Ingredients:

2 medium sized Tilapia / any white fish fillets

1/4 cup shredded red cabbage
1 chopped tomato
6 corn tortillas

Fish marinade:
1 and half tablespoon oil
juice of half a lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves

Yogurt sauce:
2 tablespoons non-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons non-fat sour cream
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder

- Mix all the ingredients together for the fish marinade and marinate the fish in it for 15-20 mins.
- Whisk all the ingredients together for the yogurt sauce.
- Heat a grill pan or non-stick pan and cook the fish till flaky (3-4 mins per side)
- Warm the tortillas.
- Break fish into bite sized pieces and divide among the tortillas.
- Top with shredded cabbage and chopped tomato, drizzle liberally with yogurt sauce.
- If you like your tacos real hot, add a dash of cayenne on top.

Serves 2.