Fish Burrito

I must confess something: I'm a bit of a burrito snob. I live in the Southwest, and you'd think that amazing burritos would be on every block. Sadly, they're not. I found the most amazing burrito place with to-die-for burritos. But it's in San Diego. And yes, I've considered driving six hours to San Diego for said burrito. (Lucha Libre - yeah, I'm talking about you. Thanks for addicting me to your amazing fish burritos.) 

This recipe is inspired by the amazing Fish burritos from Lucha Libre. It's a far cry from the real thing, which is loaded with rice, fish, cheese, guacamole, cilantro lime cream sauce, chipotle cream sauce, and cabbage, but it's the closest I can come to my true love without blowing my diet. And there is NO WAY IN HELL I'm going to blow this. (Check out my week 4 progress report.)

After successfully developing a cauliflower pizza crust recipe that is reminiscent of NY-style floppy pizza, I wondered if the recipe could be adapted into a tortilla/burrito. It's the same basic recipe, changed a little to accommodate the Mexican flavors, But it's essentially the same recipe. 

A tip: if you want more veggies IN the burrito, you could cut down the size of the tortilla. Next time I make this, I'm going to cut the tortilla recipe down by half so that I can add more cabbage and a bit of cheese inside the burrito as well. I just love the crunch fresh shredded cabbage gives a fish burrito! As you can see it overlaps quite a bit when you roll it, so I figure I have some room to work with.

Tip: place your "tortilla" on a sheet of aluminum foil before filling with toppings and trying to roll. This will result in an easier roll and nothing will leak out the bottom (think those big-burrito joints and how they roll the burritos in foil and you tear it away before gorging.) I did not try to fold the bottom over like a regular tortilla (while pliable, it's more likely to crack than to fold nicely), just relied on the foil to keep the contents inside the burrito until I got to them. It worked out fine. 

Talapia Burrito

 

Tortilla:
1 cup grated cauliflower (2 green)
1/4 cup egg beaters (1/8 lean)
3/8 cup reduced-fat shredded Mexican cheese (6g fat/oz) (3/8 lean category)
1/8 tsp Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash (1/2 condiment) (If using the tomato salsa topping, omit this seasoning to stay at 3 condiments)

Burrito filling:
3.5 oz Talapia, cooked as desired (1/2 lean)
1/2 cup shredded cabbage (1 green)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (1/2 condiment)

Cilantro Lime Ranch:
2 Tbsp Walden Farms Ranch (1 condiment)
2 tsp fresh lime juice (1/2 condiment)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 1/4 sheet cake pan with parchment paper. Wrap Talapia in foil and bake for 20 minutes or until flaky.

Grate 1 cup of cauliflower and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add 1/4 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup  cheese. Add a 1/8 tsp of Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix with a spoon and place  on the parchment. Spread as thin as possible in a rectangle or circle avoiding holes in the mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. The crust will be browned and look a bit like a quiche looks on the top. These can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Just heat them in the microwave on a couple paper towels for 30 seconds.

In a small bowl, combine ranch dressing and lime juice, and stir until blended. Add a touch of salt if necessary.

Lay out a piece of foil larger than the tortilla. Chop the talapia small chunks, and place them in the center of the tortilla. Top with shredded cabbage and cilantro. Serve the ranch lime dressing on the side and drizzle it on as you eat. (If you add it to the burrito before rolling it up, the tortilla will get a bit soggy and you won't be able to taste the dressing.)

Recipe makes one very filling fish burrito.

L&G Calculations:
1 Lean
3 Green
Lime Ranch Drizzle: 2 Condiments

Fish Tacos

So I must start this post out by stating that I LOVE a good fish burrito. Not a big fan of the corn tortilla wrapped fish tacos (I'm not really a fan of corn tortillas in most applications). But this fish taco recipe I developed left me craving more. The recipe makes four VERY filling fish tacos, with the entire plate being one gigantic Medifast Lean and Green serving.

This was also my first experience using any sort of Walden Farms product. I'd read mixed reviews about their products, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I wanted that creamy cilantro and lime sauce, but didn't have the healthy fat to spare (because of the cheese in the tortillas). I didn't do the math for the healthy fats, I just assumed that I didn't need the healthy fat serving. All of the Walden Farms products count as 2 Tbsp=1 condiment.

Anyway, the cilantro lime ranch sauce makes these tacos SO delicious. The combination of the three flavors, especially the lime, makes all of the flavors POP! Mmmm. I'm craving these just thinking about it! Also, the picture only shows a drizzle of the sauce on the tacos. The remaining sauce is in a bowl off to the side. It is all included in the L&G calculations, and believe me, the rest was devoured with the tacos. I just didn't want them dripping all over me as I ate!

The recipe for the "corn" tortillas below can also be used to make one large tortilla. I made mine rectangular, but you could also make it circular to resemble a large flour tortilla. I just figured the rectangular shape would aid in rolling the burrito. Anyway - it's the same ingredients and baking time, just make it one large circle instead of four small ones. I also didn't flip the large one halfway through. (The small ones are easy to flip, the big one? Yeah, not so much.) It didn't seem to impact the flavor or texture, it just was slightly less browned on the top side. :)

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch Drizzle (extra sauce on the side not shown) 

Tortillas:
1 cup grated cauliflower (2 green)
1/4 cup egg beaters (1/8 lean)
3/8 cup reduced-fat shredded Mexican cheese (6g fat/oz) (3/8 lean category)
1/8 tsp Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash (1/2 condiment) (If using the tomato salsa topping, omit this seasoning to stay at 3 condiments)

Taco filling:
3.5 oz Talapia, cooked as desired (1/2 lean)
1/2 cup shredded cabbage (1 green)

Toppings:

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (1/2 condiment)
1 Tbsp chopped onion (1 condiment)
1 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice (1/2 condiment)
1 Tbsp tomato salsa (1 condiment)

OR

Cilantro Lime Ranch Drizzle:
2 Tbsp Walden Farms Ranch (1 condiment)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (1/4 condiment)
2 tsp fresh lime juice (1/2 condiment)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 1/4 sheet cake pan with parchment paper. Wrap Talapia in foil and bake for 20 minutes or until flaky.

Grate 1 cup of cauliflower and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add 1/4 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup  cheese. Add a 1/8 tsp of Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix with a spoon and place in four 1/3 cup piles on the parchment. Spread each pile as thin as possible in a circle, avoiding holes in the mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, flipping at 15 minutes. The crust will be browned and look a bit like a quiche looks on the top. These can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Just heat them in the microwave on a couple paper towels for 30 seconds.

For the cilantro/tomato salsa topping, chop a white onion and cilantro and toss together.

For the Cilantro Lime Ranch Drizzle, finely chop the cilantro. Place in bowl with the ranch and lime juice, stir until blended. Add a touch of salt if necessary.

Cut the talapia into four pieces, place a piece of talapia on each tortilla, top with shredded cabbage and the topping of your choice. For the cilantro/tomato salsa topping, squeeze the lime directly onto the fish.

Recipe makes four fish tacos, which equal 1 lean and green serving.


L&G Calculations:
1 Lean
3 Green
Cilantro, onion and tomato salsa topping: 3 Condiments
Cilantro Lime Ranch Drizzle: 1 3/4 Condiments

(Apologies for the less than stellar picture (again) turns out one of my kids had gotten ahold of my camera and changed the settings, thus making every picture look like I had my finger on the flash! Ugh!)

Bruschetta Talapia

Bruchetta Talapia

• 1/2 cup Basil, julienned (1/2 condiment)
• 1/2 cup Roma Tomato, diced (1 serving green)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh garlic (1 condiment)
• 1 tsp olive oil (1 healthy fat serving)
• 7 oz Talapia (1 lean)
• 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder ( 1/2 condiment)
• 1/8 tsp White Pepper (1/4 condiment)
• 1/2 tsp Dried basil (1/2 condiment) 
• 2 cups of lettuce (2 green)
• 2 Tbsp Light Done Right Italian Dressing (1 healthy fat)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Dice roma tomato, julienne the basil and chop the garlic. Put the tomato, basil, and garlic in a small bowl and toss with the olive oil. Refrigerate while the talapia cooks to let the flavors develop. Meanwhile, spritz a sheet of aluminum foil with a squirt of Pam. Spritz the top of the talapia with another squirt of Pam, sprinkle with garlic powder, white pepper and dried basil. Wrap tightly into a packet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the talapia flakes easily with a fork. Top the cooked talapia with the tomato, basil and garlic mixture. Serve with salad topped with your choice of dressing to equal 1 healthy fat choice.

Medifast calcs: 1 lean, 3 green, 3 condiments, 2 healthy fats