Low-fat cooking: tilapia tacos easy to make, healthy to eat

| 29 Sep 2011 | 09:04

    Tilapia is the gently flavored, nutritious and low-fat centerpiece of these tacos. Dress up the fish with tasty vegetables, smartly seasoned - and there’s a meal to make people happy. On a hot day it’s an advantage that the work involved is minimal. The easy recipe is from the ``superfast’’ section of Cooking Light magazine’s July issue. The sturdy texture of corn tortillas works best for these tacos, the magazine’s recipe developer says, but you can use flour tortillas. Since the recipe makes more slaw than necessary for the tacos, serve the extra on the side. With its fresh tang of lime balancing the chili-flavored fish, diners are going to welcome second helpings. Fish Tacos With Cabbage Slaw 4 cups very thinly presliced green cabbage 1 cup chopped plum tomatoes 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 pound tilapia fillets 1 teaspoon chili powder Eight 6-inch corn tortillas Combine cabbage, tomatoes, onions and cilantro in a large bowl. Add juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well to combine. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with chili powder and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from heat, and cut fish into bite-sized pieces. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/4 cup cabbage mixture down the center of each tortilla. Divide fish evenly among tortillas; fold in half. Serve tacos with remaining cabbage mixture. Makes 4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos and about 1 cup cabbage mixture). Nutrition information per serving: 305 cal., 9.8 g total fat (2 g saturated), 26.5 g pro., 30.1 g carbo., 4.4 g fiber, 75 mg chol., 445 mg sodium.