Easy Fish Tacos and Roasted Chicken

I love the Food Network, Cooking Channel, cookbooks, and food.  The Iron Chef competition makes gourmet cooking look fun and easy.  Bobby Flay makes some really good Southwest style food and his recipes are pretty easy to follow.  I have made his fish tacos in the past using one of his recipes.

One of my many outside "talents" is dish washing.  Not just dishes, but pots and pans.  I volunteer for a couple of different groups to do this since not many people like the job.  I wouldn't make a career out of it (again anyway), but attitude is everything and I don't mind taking on the task.  One of the groups I was for is the Sons of Norway.

This last week was the Sons of Norway Torsk dinner.  This is boiled cod, not the much maligned lutefisk.  There is a sign up sheet to purchase the leftovers, and I was able to score some of the leftover cod.  It is delicious to reheat and eat with a little melted butter.  I made some of it into easy fish tacos and here's how:

1/2 pound boiled cod

1 T Penzey's Arizona Dreaming seasoning OR

1 T Spice House Salt Free Southwest Seasoning

1 t dried cilantro (use fresh if you have it, I didn't)

juice of one small lime

Heat the cod and mix with the seasonings and lime juice

Serve on top of corn tortillas which I like to heat on a hot cast iron griddle until they blister on both sides (flip once).

Top with the following:

Shredded cabbage

finely sliced read onions

sliced avocado

salsa verde (I canned this so why not use it)

Marie's Creamy Chipoltle Ranch Dressing (in the produce section)

These were such an easy supper.  Most of the fresh ingredients I am fortunate enough to have close by with El Rey Grocery in the neighborhood.  The avocados were only 68 cents today.  The cabbage is a winter crop and only 38 cents a pound (and good for you).  Onions are also a storage crop.  I didn't buy fresh cilantro as I have my own cilantro in dehydrated for which is good enough for the season.  Limes are always cheap at El Rey, but I had juice some when they were 20 for $1 and froze it in cubes.

The Penzey family has their spice company right here in town so I am never lacking for a variety of blends.  Check them out on the web under Penzey Spice or The Spice House.  Same family, different stores, I shop both.  One is convenient to home.  The other is more customer orientated, and I can buy in quantities of my choosing from the jar-lined shelves.  Both sell on-line.

El Rey also had fresh, whole chickens on sale for 78 cents a pound.  I brought one home and seasoned it with my dried oregano, rosemary, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  I basted it with olive oil and lemon juice (also froze cubes of fresh squeezed).  An hour and one half later, I have a roasted chicken for tomorrow's eating.  This took me 5 minutes of prep time and saved a whole bunch from the store roasted birds that are soaked in mystery marinade.  Fine in a pinch, but I love the smell of roast chicken in the house.

With a little bit of effort, two meals were done in very little time.  Eating at home does not have to be hard.