Northern California e-news

Fish tacos for the family

Revisiting the burger recipe - By Preston Maring, MD (pictured at left)

Before we talk about delicious, healthy fish tacos, I wanted to address some comments we received about our "183-calorie burger" recipe in the July issue of Partners in Health e-newsletter. Even with a serving of vegetables, some didn't like that we excluded the bun in the calorie count, and others disagreed with mixing ground beef with ground turkey. And, others disagreed with even cooking meat on the grill.

That recipe was something I had offered in the past on my blog, but you should consider either using all ground poultry instead of beef for burgers, or even buying a good veggie burger to cook. I admit — I used to get excited when I saw the pepperoni pizza box with the grease coming through the bottom, but no more.  Food choices change over time. Mine have. 

Try this month's fish tacos. They are the best.  What’s important is for each of us, no matter where we are on the broad spectrum of dietary choices, to move a little each day toward a healthier diet.  

You probably already know fish is a great addition to your diet. But it can be tricky to get kids on board with the idea. Fish tacos provide a healthy, hands-on way for everybody in your family to enjoy seafood.

Look up other healthy recipes in our new Thrive recipe library.  

Fish tacos with cilantro slaw

Serves 6

For the cilantro slaw:

½ head cabbage, either green or red, thinly sliced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ red pepper or some carrots, julienne cut (thin, long strips)
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

1/4 teaspoon crushed red chilies

3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

For the fish tacos:

1 pound halibut fillets or other white fish that flakes when cooked, such as red snapper.
About 2 teaspoons ancho chili powder, with dried oregano added
1 tablespoon canola oil

6- inch whole wheat flour or stone ground corn tortillas

Mix all the slaw ingredients in a large bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.

Liberally coat the first side of the fish with ancho chili powder. Heat the canola oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp. salt and some pepper, from a height, into the hot oil also. This really helps keep the fish from sticking to the pan.

Cook the fillets, ancho side down. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining ancho chili. Fish takes about 10 minutes per inch of thickness to cook no matter how you do it. So, estimate what half the total cooking time should be for one side and don't try to turn the fillet before then.

Heat the tortillas.

Flake the cooked fish. Let your family assemble their tacos, placing fish on tortillas and topping with slaw.

Nutrition information per serving (made with corn tortillas):
Calories: 213
Fat: 7 g
Saturated fat: 1 g
Trans fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 24 mg
Carbohydrate: 19 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sodium: 155 mg
Protein: 18 g

Be inspired while you learn: Attend one of our healthy eating classes, where you can learn everything from nutrition basics to healthy meal planning for families and people with conditions like diabetes. Not all classes are available in all areas and some require a fee, so check our class listings to see what is available in your area.

Back to top