Baja Fish Taco Salad with Creamy Red Chili Dressing

Often people say to  me, "You like fish tacos?...eewwww!" I will never understand that question/statement. I love, I repeat, LOVE fish tacos. What's not to like? You get the health benefit of eating fish, you get the whole taco experience and on top of that, the cabbage and other ingredients give it so much texture! I love to make beer batter fish tacos, but since I am not 21 yet and can't buy beer....cough cough....since I didn't happen to have a beer lying around my house, I decided to try the Baja fish taco salad recipe I had found earlier in the week in one of my old forgotten recipe magazines. I figured it couldn't hurt to leave off the old shell and have a few less carbs for dinner. I'm so glad I tried it. I tweaked the recipe just a bit and my hubby, who is not  "foodie" like me ( I know....how is it possible not to be) kept commenting how much he loved it! So today, I may not have any fish leftover, but I do have salad and dressing leftover, so that will be my nice healthy lunch!  So I say "FISH TACO LOVERS UNITE" and give this one a try. You will thank me later :)

Recipe Adapted From: Cuisine at Home Magazine February 2012

Calories: 309 per serving
Makes 6 servings
Total time: 45 min

Baja Fish Taco Salad:

For the fish, whisk together:
1 cup cornflake crumbs
3/4 tsp coriander
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

To Coat the fish and cook it::
3/4 cup canola oil
3 egg whites, beaten
2 Tbsp water
 1 lb Flounder pieces, cut into 2 inch long strips

For the salad, toss together:
6 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (you can chop these, but don't chop them too fine)

Whisk the cornmeal, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper together in a bowl.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Combine egg whites and water in a small bowl.
Cut your fish into pieces that are approximately 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.
Dredge the cut pieces of fish into the corn flake crumbs, then into the egg white mixture and then back into the cornflake crumbs. (Make sure you let the excess egg whites drip off before you re-dip them into the cornflake crumb mixture to prevent clumping)
Fry the fish in small batches, until golden (fry in small batches to prevent cooling down the oil) and place on a paper towel lined plate to soak up any excess oil.
For the salad, toss together the cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes, radishes and cilantro in a large bowl. Divide the salad among  the plates and top each salad with as much fish as you would like. Serve with Creamy Jalapeno Dressing. (recipe follows)

Creamy Red Chili Dressing

1/2 cup fat free mayonnaise ( I used Veganaise)
1/4 cup almond milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice (orig.recipe used buttermilk and I didn't have any so improvising was necessary)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 small red fresno chilies, seeded and roughly chopped (you can substitute jalapeno)
1/2 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin

Place all the dressing ingredients in a food processor and process until the green onions and chilies are minced well and the dressing is combined.