Blackened Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos

Today is my first day without feeling the pressure of studying!  Now that may all change by tomorrow when I start my first real day of work on the floor.  But for now, I feel invigorated.  Today, I revamped my exercise routine and am dedicated to the finishing the SELF Challenge (the fitness part).   I also want to visit every free museum in DC by the end of the summer.  Lastly, I am determined to try new kinds of recipes and start a recipe book. So during my workout today I watched the food network for an hour and found 3 new recipes to try this week.

Here is the first.  Eli and I fell in love with blackened fish and chicken when visiting Barbados and then again just a few weeks ago after going to Puerto Rico.  We rated this recipe an 8 out of 10.  Very yummy.  Just realized that this is kind of long, but I promise it is easy.  Don’t get bogged down.

2 pounds fresh fish-I like mahi mahi or red snapper because it is mild (we used about .7 lb for 5-6 small tacos)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon allepo (or cayenne) flakes
¼ teaspoon ancho powder
1/8 teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon sharp paprika powder
¼ teaspoon allspice
Salt and black pepper to taste

So I got to the spice isle and found that it would have cost about $15 for the spices I didn’t have.  Instead I found Phillips Blackening Seasoning for $6 and decided to go with that.  It was probably a lot better actually buying all those spices.  

Cut the fish into small fillets or even smaller for more spice.  Dip in spices and either cook in pan with a little butter or bake in the oven.  Just cook until the middle isn’t clear.  It was about 5 minutes in the pan for us. 

Use whatever toppings you want.  I used the following items
black beans and corn, cabbage
Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
10 soft corn tortillas for tacos, or ready-made taco shells

Cafe rio dressing for the sauce (listed below)

Ingredients: MAKE HALF FOR A GROUP OF 4 OR LESS
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (mix with 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup mayo - milk makes this too runny)
5 fresh tomatillos
1   7 oz. can salsa verde tomatillo salsa
2 cloves fresh garlic (or more)
2 jalapenos (hotter w/ seeds)
cilantro at least a handful or more
juice from a lime
salt/pepper
chili powder (chipotle if you have it)
Directions:
Mix well in your blender.

You sort of have to play around with this recipe since I got this from a person who watched them make it at Cafe Rio.  If you never have had Cafe Rio.  You are missing out .

This is the fun we had buying the fish at the Fish Market.

View Full Album