Blackened Fish Tacos {Hapa Nom Nom Guest post}

Blackened Fish Tacos made with a blend of Cajun spices makes these tacos that are absolutely loaded with flavour. A very special guest post from one of my all time favourite blogs, the uber-talented Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom.

One of my greatest sources of inspiration are food blogs. I am continually amazed by the creativity, wealth of knowledge and talent that is “out there” in the food blogging community.

And one of my personal favorites is Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom. Ever since the very first day that I stumbled across her blog by chance, I was hooked. Having tried quite a few of her recipes (scroll down to see my favorites!) and reading every recipe she publishes, I can tell you with absolutely certainty that Kathleen’s palette is very similar to mine. We both like strong flavours and enjoy diversity, discovering and sharing gems from around the world that are easy enough for anyone to make.

So it is with the utmost of gratitude and honour that I pass you over to Kathleen who is here today to share with us one of her amazing creations. I can assure you that I’ll be making this as soon as I get back to Sydney! – Nagi x

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Hi there! I’m Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom. I’m so honored to be doing a guest post for one of my very favorite bloggers, Nagi as she’s traveling halfway around the world to Mexico and then onto California. There’s no doubt she’s eating some pretty incredible food while on her journey and I can’t wait to see what inspires her and how she’ll transform it into a RecipeTin Eats original!

Today I’d like to share with you, Blackened Fish Tacos with Avocado-Lime Slaw. Anytime I’m at a restaurant and see the option to have something blackened, I jump on it! A blend of spices popular in Cajun cuisine, it adds serious flavor to anything it touches, and chances are you already have the spices needed in your pantry. I love making a big batch to have on hand for a quick and easy weeknight meal – tilapia, mahi mahi, shrimp, even chicken breasts all get a burst of flavor with this spice blend. What’s even better – you’re adding an incredible amount of flavor without adding a lot of fat. Of course the fat I’m referring to is from the olive oil used to cook the fillets and that’s healthy fat, so another win for the dish!

When it comes to the coleslaw there seems to be two camps – vinegar based and mayonnaise based. Personally, I’m team mayo when it comes to fish tacos. Rather than piling on veggies dripping with mayonnaise after I just went on about how you can get so much flavor without adding fat to the fish fillets, I thought it best to find an alternative. Enter avocado-lime dressing. A yogurt based sauce; it adds a cool, creamy texture with a zippy flavor – a perfect compliment to the bold spices of the blackened fish.

Now because I just couldn’t help myself, I did end up adding a touch of mayo as a finishing sauce by making a quick Sriracha aioli. It’s actually pretty loose; as I’ve thinned it out a bit with lime juice – so you get a little drizzle of some of that flavor from the fat without big globs of it. Again, adding another layer of flavor to the dish.

I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as I do! It really is amazing what well portioned spices and a balance of flavors can create. – Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom

And more tacos

• Quick Chicken Tacos – 2 in 1 recipe, shredded taco seasoned chicken AND taco sauce

• Beef Tacos – the old school way

• Marinated Grilled Chicken Tacos

• Slow Cooked Shredded Mexican Chicken for Tacos

• Fish Tacos – marinated and grilled, healthy and delicious!

• Pork Carnitas Tacos – the iconic Mexican pulled pork tacos

• Shredded Beef Tacos – tender slow cooked shredded beef in a deep flavoured Mexican sauce

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Blackened Fish Tacos

Author: Guest Post by Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 6 mins

Total: 26 mins

Dinner

Fusion

4.79 from 14 votes

Servings8

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Fish cooked with a punchy spice rub of Cajun Flavours! Perfectly paired with a Avocado-Lime Slaw to make these irresistible tacos.

Ingredients

Avocado-Lime Slaw

• ▢ ½ cup greek yogurt
• ▢ 1 avocado
• ▢ 1 cup cilantro/coriander leaves
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves
• ▢ 2 limes zested and juiced
• ▢ 2 jalapeños
• ▢ 2 tbsp mint , roughly chopped
• ▢ ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ▢ Freshly ground black pepper , to taste
• ▢ 1 cup red cabbage , finely shredded*
• ▢ 1 cup green cabbage , finely shredded*
• ▢ 2 carrots , grated*

Quick Sriracha Aioli

• ▢ 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• ▢ 1 tsp Sriracha
• ▢ 1 tbsp fresh lime juice

Blackened Fish

• ▢ 2 tbsp paprika
• ▢ 2 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ 2 tsp onion powder
• ▢ 2 tsp garlic powder
• ▢ 2 tsp dried thyme
• ▢ 2 tsp dry mustard
• ▢ 1 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• ▢ 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 4 tilapia fillets

To Serve

• ▢ 8 (6 inch) tortillas
• ▢ 2 jalapeños , sliced
• ▢ 1 small bunch cilantro

Instructions

• In the bowl of a food processor, add the yogurt, avocado, cilantro, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, jalapeños, mint, salt, and pepper. Puree until smooth and creamy. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Place the shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Add 1/2 a cup of the avocado-lime dressing from the food processor and stir to combine. Add more dressing if you would like a creamier slaw. If not, you can use the extra dressing to top the tacos later. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the Sriracha Aioli. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• If you would like to toast the tortillas (highly recommended if you are using corn tortillas)* heat a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, warm each tortilla 1 to 2 minutes per side – you want to heat the tortillas just enough to slightly char and add a bit of crispness, but not so much that when you fold it, it cracks. Wrap the tortillas in a clean tea towel to keep warm and set aside.
• On a large plate, combine all of the spices to make the blackened seasoning. Dredge both sides of each fish fillet in the spice mixture. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. At the first wisp of smoke from the pan, add the fillets, working in batches if needed. Cook for 2 -3 minutes on each side. (Do not move the fish fillets around while they're cooking. Leave them be until they're ready to flip). Transfer the cooked fillets to a cutting board and slice each fillet in-half, vertically - making 8 pieces.
• To serve, top each tortilla with the fish, avocado-lime slaw, jalapeños, cilantro, and drizzle with the Sriracha aioli. Serve with extra wedges of lime and enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

1. If you want to keep things super quick and easy, you can buy a bag of shredded cabbage and carrots at most grocery stores. The slaw can also be assembled the day before.

2. Heating tortillas on a skillet certainly adds a nice texture to your tacos. However, it serves a dual purpose with corn tortillas (not so much with flour tortillas). Corn tortillas easily fall apart - which is why if you don't heat them, they are generally served with two tortillas per taco. By very slightly charing the corn tortillas, you are making them stronger and more pliable. Careful - you don't want heat them so much so that they become crispy and break when you fold them.

3. Nutrition per taco.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 165gCalories: 243cal (12%)Carbohydrates: 20.6g (7%)Protein: 14.3g (29%)Fat: 12.8g (20%)Saturated Fat: 2.4g (15%)Cholesterol: 30mg (10%)Sodium: 619mg (27%)Potassium: 337mg (10%)Fiber: 5.2g (22%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 3650IU (73%)Vitamin C: 16.5mg (20%)Calcium: 80mg (8%)Iron: 2.5mg (14%)

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LIFE OF DOZER

PS Proof that Dozer LOVED the homemade biscuits!