Asian-Infused Fish Tacos - or Salad

There are a TON of different elements and depths to this meal - some sweet, some hot, a little Asian, a tad Spanish. Thrown together, it made an insane dinner that gave us both food comas from eating so much.
The definite star of the show tonight was the caramelized cabbage. I don't remember where I saw it, but in one of my typical rabbit-trail, blind stumbling through the interwebs recently, I remembered seeing a picture of roasted cabbage, and it inspired me to change up the standard fish tacos I usually make. Cabbage is really good right now; jicama and carrots are inexpensive; and avocados have been on sale, so this is a good go-to winter dinner. Roasting the cabbage gave it an unusual sweetness that really offset the heat of the cayenne and onions.

Olive oil
1/3 head green cabbage, sliced 1/2" thick through the middle with core intact
4 small cod fillets

"Slaw":
1 large shallot, very thinly sliced, divided (could also use yellow onion)
1/3 medium jicama, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
3 tomatillos, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (seeds removed for less heat) - divided
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Juice of 2 limes
2 T soy sauce, divided
2 T rice vinegar, divided
1 T black sesame oil
1 t garlic powder
1 t cayenne powder (or to taste)
1 t chili powder (or to taste)
1/4 c Hain canola mayonnaise
S&P

1 large avocado, sliced
Corn tortillas (omit for whole30, paleo, or low carb)

Marinate cod in advance with some of the shallot rings, 1 T of the soy sauce, 1 T of the rice vinegar, the juice of 1 of the limes, 1 t of the jalapeno, and a little S&P. Leave in fridge til ready to bake.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 425. Toss the jicama, carrot, tomatillos, rest of the jalapeno, shallot, cilantro, and the rest of the lime juice, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and a little S&P in a big bowl, cover and set aside.


When oven is preheated, brush both sides of each wedge of the cabbage with olive oil and place on jellyroll pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt and roast in oven for 20-30 minutes (check around the 15 minute mark to make sure there's no burning). If the core of the cabbage was kept intact & not removed before slicing, they can probably be flipped easily. If not, it's perfectly fine to just roast on one side. They'll still get that caramelly sweetness!


When cabbage is done, remove from oven & transfer to a plate. Turn heat down to 375, and transfer cod from the marinade to a roasting dish (or you can use the jellyroll pan from the cabbage like I did). Bake fish for about 30 minutes, or until flaky.
While cod is baking put its marinade in a saucepan to make the "slaw" sauce - add the mayo, cayenne, chili powder, garlic, and a little S&P, and heat over very low til thickened. Extra lime and/or cilantro could be added to the sauce if more tanginess is needed.
By this time the fish should be just about done. If making tacos, start heating the corn tortillas. If making salad, plate the fish, top with the "slaw" sauce, jicama salad, and sliced avocado. Good with a Pino Gris.

Barramundi Piccata

Barramundi, apparently, is this not-new whitefish that is being marketed as the next "new better whitefish". I had never heard of it til I saw a Safeway coupon for their frozen packaged version, and decided to try it after a few google searches convinced me of its safety.
I'm sure more will come out eventually, I mean this fish has been around and eaten for decades but with all the hype in the last few years about sustainability, metal levels, and the like, you just never know for sure. From what I can find, it seems to be a safe bet on all counts. And luckily, it's not too expensive....yet (with coupons and sales of course!).


1-2 T olive oil
2 large Barramundi fillets
S&P

Brown fish on each side in olive oil til flaky and cooked through. Remove from pan and keep warm in oven turned on its lowest temp. Keep pan & drippings for piccata sauce:

3 T salted butter/ghee
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small yellow onion, finely sliced
2 T flour (or tapioca flour, or coconut cream for paleo/Whole30)
Juice of 2 lemons
zest of 1 lemon (OR thin slices of 1/2 lemon)
1/4 c dry white wine
1/4 c drained capers (or to taste...I like tons of capers)
S&P

In the same pan that the fish cooked in, saute onions and garlic in butter, but do not brown. When softened, add the flour, stir well til flour is well incorporated (only about 30-40 seconds), then add the lemon juice and wine. Stir constantly to remove any flour lumps, about 1-2 minutes. When thickened, add remaining ingredients - zest, S&P, and capers.

Remove fish from oven and drizzle sauce over top. This was served with quinoa and a solid Chardonnay.

Fish Stew With a Kick

I can't help it, I'm on a stew kick still. Next week's menu plan is shaping up to be more vegetable-y and salad-y, so be prepared for less stewiness!

In the meantime though, since I had most of the ingredients on hand I decided to riff on Kalyn's Kitchen Spicy Red Fish Stew. Her blog has been a huge inspiration for my dinner planning lately, with most recipes being low-glycemic (or "South Beach Diet" style). I don't follow any particular diet and have never done the South Beach one, but the majority of my life I tend to eat low-carb and/or low-glycemic anyway. Sure, occasionally I crave pasta - I mean c'mon, I'm not dead - but for the most part I try to avoid the blood sugar spikes carbs cause.

I didn't veer too far from Kalyn's version; I boosted the heat level and roasted my own bell peps, and changed the name of course, but the rest is basically the same:

1/2 large red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 red bell peps*
1 jalapeno, finely minced (remove seeds/pith for less heat or omit)
red pepper flakes (I used about 1/2 t - use whatever quantity you wish or omit)
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 fresh lemon zest
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 - 1/2 c cilantro, chopped
3 cod fillets, chopped into 1" square pieces
S&P

*To time things appropriately, start with the bell peps - wash, trim ends/seeds, and splay out, skin side down, onto sprayed cookie sheet. Roast in pre-heated 425 oven for 15-20 mins, or until they're slightly blackened.
While bell peps are roasting in the oven, chop the onions, garlic, and jalapeno, and saute in the olive oil on med-high heat. When just barely starting to brown, add tomatoes and turn heat down to med-low. While that's simmering, remove peps from oven, slide off onto cutting board, and roughly chop. Add peps to stew and give a good stir. Then add the lemon, zest, cilantro and fish. Cover, let simmer about 10 more minutes (or until fish begins to flake), add S&P, and serve!

Brandon said this would've been great with tortillas. We enjoyed it without the tortillas, but with a couple ice cold Coronas.