Eat + Drink Well - Baja

Written By Sarah White

In anticipation of our upcoming Mexico vacation we’re hosting a virtual dinner party inspired by travels to our favourite little town in Mexico; Todos Santos. Featuring all of the recipes that remind us of good times in a great spot, here are a few Baja-inspired (healthy) dishes & drinks that we cooked up in honour of our next trip to the area;

Spicy Mezcal Margaritas

  • 3 oz ‘good’ mezcal

  • 1 tbs fresh squeeze orange juice

  • Juice from 2 limes

  • splash of sparkling water

  • 1/2 fresh small jalapeño, sliced

  • 1 - 2 tbs flakey sea salt to rim glasses

Instructions

Add all the ingredients except the salt & soda into a cocktail shaker with fresh ice and shake for 30 seconds. Strain & pour in salt-rimmed short glasses filled with ice, top with a lime wedge + a thin slice of jalapeño.

‘Easy’ + High Protein Pozole

  • 4 chicken breasts, bone in (skin removed)

  • 4 bay leaves

  • 1 head of garlic

  • 1 medium white onion

  • 2 poblano peppers

  • 1 serrano pepper

  • 2 jalapeños

  • 1 tbs avocado oil

  • 2 cups spinach

  • 1 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds

  • 2 cups green chard

  • 800ml can green tomatillos or around 12 fresh tomatillos if available

  • 2 cups hominy

  • 1 lime

  • optional toppings: micro greens, shredded cabbage, sliced radish, avocado

  • salt + pepper to taste

Instructions

Remove skin from chicken breasts and place in a large stock pot or dutch oven with 12 cups filtered water, bay leaves, 1/2 onion chopped, and 6 cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil uncovered then simmer on low heat covered for 45 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and chicken from the broth, pull the chicken apart into small pieces and set aside. At this point we like to use an immersion blender to breakdown the onion and garlic in the broth but you can leave it whole if you like some chunkier alliums in your soup. Rinse hominy and add to the broth to cook for 45 minutes as you prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Add pumpkin seeds to a hot pan (no oil needed) and cook stirring frequently until toasted. Remove pumpkin seeds from the pan and set aside. Cut tomatillos in half and add to the hot pan with the oil, serrano, jalapeño and poblano pepper along with the rest of the garlic & onion, finely chopped. Cook tomatillo mixture for 10 - 15 minutes stirring frequently until peppers and tomatillos are slightly browned., add chopped greens and cook for an additional 5 - 10 minutes until greens are wilted. Add tomatillo mixture to a high powered blender along with 1 cup of the pan toasted pumpkin seeds and juice from 1 lime, blend until a thick, pesto-like sauce forms (add broth as needed to thin the mixture) then add your pepper and tomatillo sauce to the broth for the last 15 minutes of the hominy cooking time. Add shredded chicken back to the soup pot to warm for a few minutes then serve the soup topped with additional lime juice, toasted pumpkin seeds and any of your favourite pozole toppings (we love extra jalapeños, cabbage, micro greens & a little avocado).

Baja Fish Tacos

Fish Ingredients: 

  • 2 filets of safe-catch certified white fish

  • 1 tbs chili powder

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 1 tbs organic garlic powder

  • 1/4 cup almond flour

  • 1 egg (optional)

  • 1 tbs avocado oil

Slaw Ingredients:

  • 1 bag shredded cabbage or 1 medium head of cabbage, shredded

  • 1/3 cup vegan mayo or chosen foods paleo mayo

  • 1 jalapeno, chopped & de-seeded

  • juice from 2 limes

  • 2 tbs apple cider vinegar

  • 1 tsp chili powder

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder

Spicy Sunflower Seeds: 

  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

  • 1 tsp cayenne powder

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 2 tbs cane sugar, or monk fruit sweetener

  • 1 tbs avocado oil

Additional Toppings: 

Instructions

Fish Instructions: 

Beat the egg in a small bowl and brush over fish to make the coconut flour spice mixture stick. Alternatively, if you're off eggs like I am just spray the filets with avocado oil. Mix the coconut flour with the spices in a large shallow dish and dip the prepared fish filets into the coconut flour mixture until well coated. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet and add the fish filets to the hot skillet, cooking for 5 minutes on each side. It's okay if the fish falls apart in this process and it will need to be broken up anyway to fit in your tortilla shells. Remove the fish from the heat and pile onto warmed tortillas. Our favourites are the grain-free cassava tortillas from Siete.

Slaw instructions: 

Mix all of the ingredients except for the jalapeño and cabbage in a small bowl. Pour mixed sauce over shredded cabbage and mix well to coat the cabbage. Let sit for 1 hour to let flavours settle.

Spicy Sunflower Seed Instructions: 

Combine the seeds, spices, sugar and oil in a mixing bowl and toss until well incorporated. Cook the seed mixture on a skillet over medium high heat stirring frequently. The seeds are ready when the sugar or monk fruit sugar is melted and the seeds are slightly browned. Remove from heat and let cool before serving. These will keep for up to 2 weeks in an air-tight container.

To assemble the fish tacos warm the tortillas in an oven (can be placed directly on the oven rack) and pile with fish and slaw. Top with spicy sunflower seeds and all of your favourite taco fixins.

Sarah White
Previous

Drink Well - Mezcal Guide

Next

Eat Well - ‘Easy’ Pozole