Summer Fish Tostadas

 Summer Fish Tostadas

Recipe courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian and cooking light fresh food fast cookbook. 

This recipe was delicious. Full of wonderful flavor and perfect for a summer dinner. It was however, a little messy to eat. There are a few components to this recipe. 1. The pineapple salsa 2. The white beans simmered in wine, and 3. The fish and toppings. So I will break it down by each item and then it will all come together at the end. I made the beans first, then got the fish in the marinade, made the salsa and got the pineapple ready for the side, and then cooked the fish. It sounds complicated, but its not I promise. 

 Ingredients:

1. Fresh pineapple

2. White wine (about 1 cup) 

3. 1 can of white beans (cannelloni or great northern are good options) 

4.  1 Tablespoon Oregano (fresh is best) or 1 teaspoon of dried

5. Honey (1 tablespoon)

6. 1 tsp Cumin 

7. Olive Oil

8. Pepper

9. Curry

10. 1 Tablespoon butter

11. 1 lime

12. 1 jalapeno (optional)

13. Salt

14. Tortillas (I used white corn tortillas- the small 6" ones) 

15. Garlic

16. red onion

17. Avocado

18. Plain Greek Yogurt

19. White fish (cod, talapia, sea bass etc) I used cod

20. 1 onion diced

 1. To start the beans put about 2 teaspoons of olive oil into a pan and let it get hot. (medium heat.) Add in your diced onion and let it slowly cook down. The onion will become soft and a bit translucent.

 Feel free to start the marinade or salsa at this point while the onions are cooking down,( it takes a little while)

 2. Once the onions are cooked down, add in 2 cloves of pressed garlic or finely diced. Also add in about 1 teaspoon of cumin. Give it a good stir, so the onions get coated in the cumin. Cook for about 2 minutes.

 3. Add in the wine and turn the heat down a bit. This is going to simmer until the onions and wine become a bit thick and the wine seems to be soaked up into the mixture. 

4. Add in your beans and oregano and mix it all together. Let it simmer on low for a while. Just make sure they don't burn.  

 5. Making the Marinade for the fish: start by using the zest of the lime, then add in the juice of the whole lime. Add in 3 cloves of pressed garlic, salt, pepper, and then olive oil. You will use 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 

. 6. Wisk everything together and let it sit while you get the fish ready. 

 7. Get your fish out and cut it into bite sized chunks. You don't want them too big, but not too small either.

 8. Place the fish into a dish and pour the marinade over the fish. Use your hands to mix it around and really coat the fish in the marinade. You can let this sit up to 30 minutes. Don't let it sit longer or the acid in the lime will start to cook the fish and you will end up with ceviche. (Ceviche, for those who don't know is fish that is cooked using the acid from lemons or limes) 

In a medium bowl add 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice with the lime juice, honey, oil and jalapeno if you decide to use it. Season with salt and pepper. Add pineapple and onion. Gently stir in the avocado and cilantro. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving. 

Place fish onto a baking sheet but make sure you let the marinade drip off of it before placing it on the sheet. If you don't your fish will steam instead of getting slightly crispy. Broil the fish for 5 minutes. 

Traditionally tostada shells are fried. I went for a healthier option and sprayed them with cooking spray before putting them into a hot pan to crisp up on each side. 

To assemble to tostadas you will use 2 shells, top with 1 yellow of beans (split between the two) and then top with 1 red of  fish. 

Top the fish with a little shredded cabbage, (usually you would use red, but I forgot to get it at the store) 

Top each one with a spoonful of pineapple salsa and serve with a side of Curried Pineapple. 

What containers will this count as: 

2 yellows for the tostada shells and beans, 1 red for the fish, and 1 blue for the pineapple/avocado salsa. It is not enough to count it as a purple. If you serve it with the side of curry pineapple, then it would count as 1 purple. 

2 Yellow, 1 Red, 1 Blue, 1 teaspoon  and 1 Purple with the side