San Nicolaas Fish Tacos with Lime

San Nicolaas, Aruba -- I don't think dining gets any more "sea side" than this.

This summer, I had the pleasure of accompanying an aunt & uncle of mine to Aruba for a week with my big brother. One of my fondest food memories of the trip was this off-the-beaten-path fish restaurant an Aruban friend of ours had told us about (you know its good when the tourists don't know about it) that was eye-opening in terms of freshness. After we ordered "how many pounds" of today's catch we wanted, we sat down on the back deck where we witnessed boats pulling up and turning in their fish -- where men clothed in overalls rinsed, cleaned, and cut up the fish into fry-ready fillets. After about 10 minutes of hearing the sea water splashing below our feet, a huge bowl of fish fillets simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and lime arrived at our table. Literally, we were eating fish that was brought in 20 minutes prior, and it was the best food I had ever eaten. It showed me that with food, simplicity very rarely leads you astray. This fish recipe, even though not caught directly by myself 20 min prior, reminded me of that sweet Aruban experience that is sadly not experienced very often in America. I hope you enjoy it!

Servings: 5 tacos

What you'll need:

• 1 lb tilapia or cod (cost me $4 at the supermarket)
• 2 limes
• 5 tortillas (I bought a "hecha a mano"/made by hand brand, you can usually tell if they are chemical/additive free if they are refrigerated at the grocery store!)
• Salt/Pepper
• Cooking Spray/Oven
• Optional: Latin Leftovers (I had some tomatillo salsa, avocado and summer succotash left over that worked perfectly)

Instructions:

1. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place fish on sheet and squeeze some lime juice on top (save some of the juice for later.) Use the lime to rub/spread the juice evenly. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake for 20 minutes.
3. Remove fish from oven. Place tortillas on empty oven rack and let bake for 5 min.
4. While tortillas are heating up, use two forks to pull apart fish (trick to see if fish is cooked properly -- if it flakes apart easily!) Squeeze any juice you can out of the lime you used before onto the fish chunks; lightly toss.
5. Scoop the fish into the warm tortillas and top with any toppings you may like. Slice the remaining lime into wedges and serve with the tacos.

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For the toppings, this is where my recent 'Mexican Kitchen in August' trend/semi-obsession came in handy. I mean, who can say no to flavors like cilantro, fresh tomatoes, roasted corn, warmed tortillas?? I cannot be the only person whose mouth watered at that thought. Anyways, this recipe was so incredibly simple and delicious. Plus -- It was so great to have a meal I thoroughly loved but didn't feel guilty about. My table was a haven tonight!

xoxo n