Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups whole wheat Panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¾ teaspoons smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 8- ounce tilapia filets sliced into sticks about 1-inch by 3-inches
- 3 egg whites lightly beaten
- 3 cups thinly sliced white cabbage
- 4 medium-size red radishes julienned
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- 8 6- inch soft flour tortillas
For the Mango Salsa:
- 1 mango diced
- ½ cup finely chopped red onion
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
- Pinch of salt
For the Avocado Salsa Verde:
- ½ pound tomatillos about 4 medium tomatillos, coarsely chopped
- 1 ripe avocado diced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 jalapeno chopped (This will be decently spicy, friends. If you don’t dig heat, seed the jalapeno first.)
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves packed
- 1 lime juiced
- Salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- Start by preparing the Mango Salsa. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the salsa. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
- Moving on to the Avocado Salsa Verde. Husk, wash and chop the tomatillos and place the chopped tomatillos in a blender or food processor with the avocado, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice and a pinch of salt and process until you have a coarse purée. Pour into a bowl and season with a little more salt if necessary. Press a layer of plastic wrap onto the surface of the salsa verde and set aside until ready to use.
- Now it’s time to prepare the coating for the crispy tilapia. In a small bowl, combine the panko, chipotle chili powder, smoked paprika and salt. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick pan. When hot, add the bread crumb mixture and stir to coat with the oil. Toast the breadcrumbs, stirring regularly, for 2-3 minutes until they literally smell like toast (careful to not to burn them), and remove them from the heat. Set aside.
- Pat the tilapia filets dry and slice them into sticks about 1-inch by 3-inches thick.
- Time to bread your fish! I like to set up an assembly line for this: fish, beaten egg whites, breadcrumbs, prepared baking sheet. Dip each piece of fish in the egg-whites, shake off any excess, then coat it in the seasoned breadcrumbs, pressing gently to help them adhere. Place each piece of breaded fish on the baking sheet about an inch apart. Transfer the breaded fish to the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the fish is opaque throughout.
- While the fish is cooking, combine the cabbage, radishes, lime juice and salt.
- Last, but not least, warm the tortillas. I like to do this by placing the tortillas on the eye of the burner for about 10 seconds on each side until they get slightly charred. Use tongs, obviously. (If this scares you, you can also do this in a hot pan or microwave them, okay?)
- To assemble your tacos, spread a generous amount of salsa verde on the warmed tortillas. Add a couple pieces of fish to each taco and top with the cabbage mixture and mango salsa. Serve immediately.