Clean Out the Pantry Fish Tacos

I have a confession: I am notoriously lax about housekeeping in the summer. I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve done a real grocery trip and I can tell by Mt. Laundrymore in my basement that it’s been too long since I’ve had my hands in the Purex.

Needless to say, dinners can sometimes be challenging during summer months. I can proudly say, one thing that came out of being dead broke a few years ago is that I am extremely creative with very few cheap ingredients. Today I present a little dose of that creativity.

When I found I had tortillas that were still mostly fresh in the fridge I decided to figure out some sort of taco/burrito concoction. Lucky for me I had canned tomatoes, corn and refried black beans. C’mon, that’s the makings of a feast right there!

I started by suateeing a little garlic, red pepper and cilantro (I always have those on hand-no matter how far between grocery trips) just enough to release the flavors a few minutes then I threw in about half the can of tomato and corn-mostly drained.

A Little Tip-check for spices in the foreign foods aisle. Red Pepper is always cheaper and tastes better in the latin or chinese food section.

While I had the pan going, I set out two tortillas and spread each with a spoonful of re-fried beans. Then I grated some Manchego cheese on top of that and topped the cheese with the contents of the frying pan. I added a little sauteed spinach to mine.

I sautee in cast iron Skillets-we get our iron any way we can around here.

Now here’s where I got a little crazy. I had made the kids fish nuggets from Trader Joe’s for dinner. (I was certain they wouldn’t eat burritos so I broke my usual rule and made two dinners.) These are usually a hit but for some reason they didn’t touch them last night. Rather than fight them to finish their (they did after all, eat  all their edamame and fruit salad sides) I stole their food and turned my bean burrito into a fish taco for The Husband. I threw the fish on top them finished his off with some delicious balsamic ranch dressing from out local market. He raved about his homemade “fish burrito”. Eat your heart out Surf Taco.

So, if you’ve ever read these and said you can’t do that now’s your chance. Anyone can open some cans and anyone can shred some cheese. Certainly, anyone can clean out the pantry for dinner.;)

Ingredients:

• A pinch of red pepper (or more if you like super spicy)
• A pinch (teaspoon) of garlic
• Two teaspoons of cilantro
• 1/2 can of corn
• 1/2 can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 can of refried beans
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• Cooked fish sticks
• ranch dressing

Procedure:

• Sautee spices for two minutes
• Add corn and tomatoes to warm
• Spread black beans on tortilla
• Top with corn and tomato mix
• Top with shredded cheese and fish sticks if you choose
• Drizzle ranch dressing to your taste.
• Wrap as burrito and cook in oven for ten minutes or microwave for three.
• You could also top with salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole if you happen to have those things on hand.