Gluten Free Fish Tacos

"What made you think of Fish Tacos?" my husband inquired when I returned home from the market with a pound of fresh haddock.

"Dunno," I said. "Guess I've been thinking about 'em for awhile. You up for it?"

"Yup. Put me to work. What do we do first?", he asked.

After I returned from visiting with some friends in New Hampshire for the weekend, he was happy I was home, happy to be eating a home-cooked meal, and eager (well, maybe that's a stretch) to make the corn tortillas - his usual job when we're eating Mexican food at home.

We both love homemade corn tortillas. They're a cinch to make and after you take one off the griddle and bite into its' softness, you'll never go back to packaged corn tortillas, I promise.

While he made the tortillas, I got to work on the rest of the meal. First I prepared the marinade for the the halibut. While the fish marinated for 20 minutes, I prepped the toppings for the tortillas - I chopped the red pepper and onion, I opened a jar of Newman's Mild Salsa, I unscrewed the top of the Tabasco sauce (duh), I chopped the lettuce and the cilantro, I made the Chipotle Mayonnaise, and last but not least, I made the guacamole (use your fave recipe - I always rely on the original Moosewood Cookbook recipe for guacamole - short, sweet, easy to make). By the time I finished all the chopping and prepping, the fish was ready to be grilled per the usual way we make Fish Tacos - on the bbq grill. But we realized that it was raining cats and dogs, so we punted and grilled the fish in a cast iron pan on the stovetop.

When the fish was cooked, we built our Fish Tacos.

First we put the grilled halibut in the corn tortilla

Then we added the guacamole

Next came the chopped red pepper, chopped onion, and salsa

Now for the Chipotle Mayonnaise

And the chopped lettuce

And the cilantro

Drum roll, badadadadadada: Fish Tacos!

Way easy. Really. The hardest part was making the guacamole. And even that wasn't difficult. Bottom line, a great Sunday night dinner and a great precursor to Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, our Sunday night ritual.

Fish Tacos

1 lb. halibut or other flaky white fish
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp chili powder (I used Penzey's Chicken Taco mix)
1 jalapeno, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
8 corn tortillas (you can use flour tortillas as well)

Toppings can include the following though feel free to add your own toppings:
Tabasco or other hot sauce
chopped onion or scallions
chopped red and/or green pepper
chopped cilantro
salsa

Chipotle Mayonnaise
mayonnaise
agave syrup
hot sauce or sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (I make my own) or chipotle chili powder
ketchup
pickle relish

Combine the oil, lemon juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Mix well and marinate the fish in this mixture for 20 minutes while you prep the toppings.

While the fish is cooking, prepare all the toppings and place in bowls on your table.

For the Chipotle Mayonnaise, I must confess that I don't measure - it's a feel and taste sorta thing. Combine ingredients, mix, taste. Done.

For the tortillas, either use packaged ones or if you or someone else in your family has the time and inclination, make them homemade.

Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on either an outdoor bbq or in a cast iron pan on your stovetop. When the fish is finished cooking, remove to a serving platter and cut into small pieces.

To assemble your Fish Taco, fold a tortilla in half. Put some fish on the tortilla and then add the toppings in whatever order you prefer, finishing with a flourish as you toss the cilantro on the very top.

Click here for printable recipe
Eat. Yum. Delicious.

If you could build your own Fish Taco, what would it include?