With temperatures rising and summer almost here (she says crossing her fingers and toes!) this dish is a perfect summery mid-week dinner. These yummy tacos are fresh, full of goodness and a bit of a novelty for the kids. Mine sweetly named it ‘a healthy pick n’ mix’.

The little ones loved choosing what was going in each of their tacos. It was thumbs-up all-round and that makes me a happy mama!

The beauty of this dish is that it requires minimum preparation: just a quick and easy marinade for the fish, which I did in the morning, so it was marinating in the fridge all day.

Nearer mealtime I made a very easy guacamole (I’m still dreaming of it … soooo delicious), a salsa and some quinoa (you could also do this whilst you prepare the fish in the morning as it is served cold, so is fine in the fridge all day as well).

The rest of the ingredients are raw.

Ingredients

Fish Tacos:

600g white fish (I used cod loin) bones removed and cut into cubes
3 limes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground himalayan rose pink salt and freshly ground pepper
Small handful of mint and coriander
95g black, red & white quinoa
2 packets corn tortillas

Pick n’ mix:

A few handfuls of baby spinach
Corn on the cob x 6
100g sour cream
One red pepper cut in strips
One mango cubed

Cherry tomato salsa:

1 punnet cherry tomatoes quartered
½ small red onion chopped
1 handful mint chopped
1 handful coriander chopped
Juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper (as before)

Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados
¼ small red onion
1 lime, juice from
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
I also added a tiny amount of red red chilli
Small bunch of coriander

Marinating:

Cut the fish into 2-3 cm cubes and place in a non-reactive bowl. Juice two of the limes into a small bowl and zest the remaining one. Season well and pour over the fish. Marinate in the fridge for preferably an hour or more.

Quinoa:

Run the quinoa under cold water and place in a saucepan with 1 cup of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for around 20 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked and all the water has been absorbed.

Put to the side and leave to cool.

Guacamole:

I love making this on a big chopping board, you can really mix, chop and combine the ingredients really well and it makes for a really nice consistency.

Peel the onion and use a quarter of it. Chop finely. Scoop the flesh out of the avocado and chop together with the onion on the chopping board. Add a small handful of the coriander and continue to chop all together.

Add the juice from one lime and a tablespoon of the olive oil, season to taste with salt, pepper and lime juice if needed. Keep chopping and mixing it all up.

I added only a small amount of chilli as the children were eating it but add more if you want a bigger kick!

Cherry tomato salsa:

Quarter the cherry tomatoes and place in a bowl. Add the chopped red onion and herbs. Mix together with the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Allow to stand whilst the flavours develop.

Corn on the cob:

Cook the corn in a saucepan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

Tacos:

Warm the corn tortillas in the oven.

Pick n’ mix:

Add washed baby spinach to a bowl, along with separate bowls for the sour cream, red pepper and corn.

Fish:

Drain the fish and add the herbs to coat. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large non stick frying pan. Cook the fish, turning, for 1-2 minutes until cooked and falls apart.

I placed everything in little bowls and just let the little ones create their own. They really loved it.

I have to admit I was especially chuffed because my eldest, George, attacked it like he hadn’t eaten for weeks. He especially enjoyed the guacamole, which made me so happy as he has refused to eat avocado since he was 1. He used to love it when I made him avocado and banana as a baby, but from age 1 flatly refused to let it pass his cherub like lips!

So it just proves that if you turn dinner into a bit of a novelty, something a little different, you can get them eating avocado and quinoa! I know we will be having this meal a lot over the summer. I hope you enjoy it too!

Simple watermelon on sticks

This didn’t require much imagination but rather than a sugary ice lolly on a stick this is gorgeous watermelon cut into triangles and put on sticks.

My children need no excuse to tuck into watermelon but this made it a little bit more special. Nice to for a afternoon in the sun with friends or a party.

Until next month. Enjoy!

Thank you Clare for another mouth watering food blog, Fish Tacos will be tried out on our wee kiddies very soon!

As always you can follow Clare on Instagram and Facebook. You can also check our her brand new website here.