Faco Frenzy

My boyfriend is very cute in that he likes to make up funny words, like "faco." Less creative individuals probably tend to refer to the "faco" as the "fish taco." My boyfriend also likes to sneak off to the meat area of the supermarket while I'm shopping for produce so that when we get home I find out that we have weird cuts of beef, a ton of shrimp or some fish that I haven't ever prepared before. I suppose it's a good thing because I have to be creative and it makes me feel a little like I'm on Iron Chef, though I suppose my secret ingredients are not quite as exciting as theirs.

This particular faco was inspired by the boyfriend's purchase of a large amount of Flounder. We were having an especially hot Florida day, so light and tasty fish tacos sounded like the way to go. Tilapia or any other mild, flakey white fish would work well in this, but the Flounder was actually quite good. I was making some salsa and other stuff from scratch, so Leon took care of the fish - which came out great. I am generally the only one who cooks, which is probably good for those around me because I can be a bit of a 'backseat cook," but I do love when Leon and I work together to make a meal. It's a romantic thing to do and a lot more fun than cleaning than most other in-home collaborations.

There were several components to this meal, so I'm going to break up the different components as best I can. I wouldn't suggest the canned tostitos salsa for this because of the flavor of the fish and everything else, pico de gallo or plain shopped tomatoes would be a good substitute. Corona or other Mexican beer is, of course, an excellent addition to this meal.

Flounder Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

1 lb. flounder or other fish

10 corn tortillas

1 cup shredded cabbage

kosher salt, to taste

old bay seasoning, to taste

Method:

Coat a pan with a bit of olive oil and bring it to medium-high heat. While pan is heating, coat fish filets with salt, old bay and any other desired seasonings. Put the fish in the pan and try not to move it around much to keep it from falling apart. Cook for a minute or so on each side until brown and crispy and flip. Heat tortillas in the microwave and add warm fish, cabbage and other desired accompaniments.

Spicy Mayo

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. light sour cream

1 tbsp. light miracle whip

sriracha, to taste

Method:

Mix ingredients together and slowly add sriracha until it is to desired spiciness. You could use mayo, but the light sour cream and light miracle whip makes this fairly low calorie.

Spicy Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

1/2 red onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, chopped and deseeded

1 lime, juiced

2 tablespoons cilantro

Method:

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a couple times until homogenous. Use less jalapeno or none at all if you don't like spicy food. Likewise, use more if you like it super spicy. The salsa will become less spicy over time in the fridge.

Rice with Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1 tbsp. sugar

Method:

Cook rice according to package directions. When rice is done, mix beans, salt, pepper and sugar. Allow rice and beans to sit covered for a few minutes to allow flavors to marry.