Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos

The amazing weather has prompted me to become one with our gas grill. Our grill was damaged in a huge storm several years back and I’ve been afraid to turn the thing on by myself since. The start button needs to be held a certain way for it to ignite and in past attempts I feared once ignited, the flames would burn my face off. Thanks to my friend Carolyn for giving me the confidence to give it a try. You know, If she could do it, I could do it – grilling has been enjoyable since.

I’m still working my way through the fish gifted to me by Dan’s boss. I had a beautiful piece of mahi mahi that I knew would be perfect for tacos. A quick Internet search and I was ready to combine several recipes before stumbling upon Bobby Flay’s “Grilled Mahi Mahi Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw, Tomato and Avocado Salsa and Pineapple Hot Sauce” – I opted to not make the pineapple hot sauce, but I did make the slaw and salsa with a few substitutions noted below. I used corn tortillas instead of deep frying flour tortillas and I only had 2 fillets, so I ended up with leftovers of the vinaigrette, slaw and salsa – all of which tasted amazing 1-2 days later added to chicken, salads, etc.

Ingredients:

• 4 (8-ounce) Mahi Mahi Fillets
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Citrus Vinaigrette – recipe follows
• 8 (6-inch) Corn Tortillas – warmed on the grill
• Red Cabbage Slaw – recipe follows
• Tomato and Avocado Salsa – recipe follows

Recipe for Citrus Vinaigrette

• 3/4 Cup Pineapple Orange Juice – the original recipe called for plain orange juice
• 1/4 Cup Lime Juice
• 1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves – chopped
• 1 Cup Fresh Cilantro Leaves
• 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Heaping Tablespoon Honey
• 1/2 Cup Canola Oil

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for 1 minute. Note: Water spotted blender = not pretty in photos.

 Recipe for Red Cabbage Slaw

• 1/4 Cup Rice Vinegar

• 1 Tablespoon Sugar

• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1/4 Head Red Cabbage – finely shredded
• 1 Large Carrot – cut into fine julienne
• 1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro Leaves
• Salt and Pepper

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Recipe for Tomato and Avocado Salsa

• 4 Plum Tomatoes – chopped
• 2 Ripe Hass Avocados – peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/2 Small Red Onion – finely chopped
• 1 Jalapeño – finely diced – original recipe called for a serrano chile
• 1 to 2 limes, juiced
• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1 to 2 Teaspoons Honey
• 3 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro Leaves
• Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions: Gently combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Direction for Fish

• Preheat grill. I set mine on medium heat.
• Brush mahi mahi fillets with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Remove from grill and drizzle with some of the citrus vinaigrette. Let rest 5 minutes and then flake with a fork.

• Fill each fried tortilla with some of the mahi, top with the red cabbage slaw, tomato and avocado salsa. I ended up drizzling even more vinaigrette on top.

These tacos were incredible. So incredible that I ate 4 of them :). While the recipe has multiple parts, I promise it’s really worth the extra effort. The salsa, slaw and vinaigrette can all be made ahead of time. The lime juice keeps the avocado from browning. You could create some shortcuts with pre-packaged slaw mix or a bottled vinaigrette. In this case, we had the time and making things ourselves turned out to be an excellent decision.

Carolyn and I enjoyed our girl’s night in, while our guys messed with cars and ate mass amounts of beef. The kitchen was a disaster, but creating a delicious meal – documented by photos, followed by lounging in the pool was awesome. Beautiful weather, amazing food and a great friend, doesn’t get better than that.

A special thanks to Dan’s boss for supplying me with incredible fish. I now have blue fin and yellow fin tuna to experiment with next.