Paleo Fish Tacos
I have never been big on making my own tortillas. However, I love tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and have been trying to stick to a mostly Paleo diet while cranking up the training for upcoming races.
I was looking around for something different and found a recipe for plantain tortillas. My first thought was, “hmmm…I wonder if they will taste like banana…”. Deep thoughts…
Good news – they do not really taste like bananas, because they’re plantains, and they only smell slightly sweet.
Making Plantain Tortillas
The trick to making these turn out well is to make them as thin as possible. When thinning them by hand on the baking sheet we found that using the spoon or ladle was impossible and you basically have to do it all by hand. Keep a bowl of water nearby to dip your fingers into so that you don’t stick to the pureed plantain mix. Go until you think you’re going too thin…and then maybe a little more.
Plantain Tortillas – visit the site for some great pictures of the process
(makes 12 5″ tortillas)
- 3 large or 4 small yellow plantains, about 2-2.5 pounds before peeling
- 1/3 cup egg whites (about 2 eggs worth)
- 3 tablespoons lard or coconut oil, melted (I highly recommend lard if you have it!) – I went with coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Peel and chop your plantains and place in a food processor.
- Puree until somewhat pureed, and then add the melted lard, egg whites, salt and lime juice.
- Puree until smooth.
- Drop about 2 tablespoons at a time onto a baking sheet lined with a lightly greased sheet of parchment paper, 4 per standard baking sheet (spaced as shown above)
- Smooth into a circle with the bottom of a ladle, getting as thin as possible, switching to wet fingers once the ladle stops being efficient.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until dry to the touch, and just starting to brown on the edges.
Note: Since it takes a few batches to be done cooking (only 4-8 at a time depending on how many tray and oven racks you have) you want to take that into account if you’re not making them beforehand.
- 1lb fresh tilapia fillets
- 1 tbsp Paleo cooking fat – *cough, cough – coconut oil!
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 or 2 jalapeño pepper(s), finely chopped
- 2 cups tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped – skipped this
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 avocado, sliced
- In a large skillet over a medium-high heat, combine the cooking fat with the garlic and onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent in colour.
- Add the tilapia fillets to the skillet. Allow the fillets to cook for 3 to 4 minutes on one side prior to flipping. As the fish begins to cook through, use a fork to break it apart into flaky pieces.
- Add the jalapeno pepper, tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice to the mix and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes before removing from heat.
- Serve the taco filling to your liking and garnish with fresh avocado slices.
Note: This is really easy to make and if you prep the veggies beforehand it only takes a few minutes to actually make – just keep stirring it after letting the fillets cook for that initial 3-5 minutes.
Here’s what ours looked like just before eating:
They were delicious and the tortillas held together fairly well – not as tough as a flour tortilla, but they didn’t fall apart until bent to nearly 180 degrees. The fish “mix” was really good reheated over the next 2 days and we used it as an appetizer or on it’s own for lunch.