Taco Salad with Tortilla Chip Crusted Mahi Mahi

I was recently in Florida, enjoying fish tacos on the beach for a hefty $25, and unfortunately the tacos really sucked. The Mahi Mahi was very fishy. I think it was microwaved. The fish was soggy, and it was too generously topped with sour cream and guacamole. PLUS, this was all served in floppy flour tortillas that were withering away in my hands. I was sad. I wanted crunch, I wanted to taste the fresh fish underneath all of the toppings, and I wanted my $20 well spent. These tacos don’t *deserve* any press for their underwhelming performance, but here they are just so you can understand. Oh god, I just realized there was also unmelted cheese too. It was 86 degrees outside, HOW can you have unmelted cheese?!?! Now I’m sweating profusely. I need to change the subject….

Hi ok. What I was getting at is this. I am back in New York (woohoo :/) and I decided to bring some Mahi Mahi to my life. But this time, instead of being served on sour cream soaked tortillas, the Mahi Mahi is being encased in crispy corn tortilla chips (yum) and placed on a nutritious and delicious salad with all of the elements that make a great taco or burrito bowl: green leaf lettuce, black beans (can be subbed for pinto beans,) cilantro (say what you want about our lovely cilantro but I think she’s a star,) red onion (shallot, in this case,) lime crema, tomato and avocado. If you do not like salads, think about it this way: this is a deconstructed fish taco with guacamole on a plate. If you like fish tacos and guacamole, you will like this. I promise.

Before we get to ~*the recipe*~ I just want to note how Mahi Mahi tastes, for anyone who has never tried it. I also want to note that you can make this recipe with any fish, or even chicken breast. I am not 100% confident when I say this, but I do think it could work with red meat as well. Try it out and let me know.

Mahi mahi is what I like to call a “medium bodied” fish. What I mean by this is that it is mildly fishy (not as mild as cod, but its definitely not fish forward) and it also has a firm texture, with a bit of flakiness. It’s not as firm as swordfish or tuna, but it’s not as flaky as cod. It’s right in the middle. It’s a safe bet for seafood lovers, it’s not a safe bet for seafood haters. Seafood haters would prefer chicken or cod with this recipe (boring but you have to please boring eaters sometimes and that is ok.)