Martha's Fish Tacos -- The Line Came Through, and So Did the Food

The week after the episode. Mami stable. Tired. Eating small. Talking less. Carmen the aide is now there twelve hours a day, with a backup aide named Eva covering nights three times a week. The cost is being absorbed by the long-term care insurance Eduardo had the foresight to buy in 2008, which we were paying premiums on for sixteen years before we used it and which now I am grateful for every day. The insurance does not cover everything. We are paying out of pocket too. We are fine. We have savings. Eduardo has been saying for thirty years that you save for the things you cannot predict, and he has saved, and now we use it.

Tuesday food bank: carne guisada — the comfort version of summer cooking, served cold over rice with avocado, which is something I improvised and which Mr. Patterson loved. Yolanda made the rice. She has a hand for rice. Marcus made the guisada. He has a hand for the meat. Brian served. The line came through.

Wednesday I met Sofía's clinic nurse practitioner. Her name was Dr. Andrea Liu. She was thirty-eight, smart, blunt, half-Chinese, half-white, raised in West Hartford, no Latino background but five years in the Frog Hollow clinic which had given her a working knowledge of the community. She wanted me to teach a six-session module on Puerto Rican nutrition for older adults at the clinic. Free for participants. Funded by a state grant the clinic had won. She wanted me to teach not just the cooking but the why — why beans are good, why pork shoulder is fine in moderation, why the white-rice problem is real. I said, "Dr. Liu, I have a degree in nutrition from 1987." She said, "Mrs. Delgado-Ortiz, I know. Your daughter told me. I want a nutritionist who is also a grandmother who is also a Puerto Rican home cook. There is exactly one of you in Hartford and you are sitting in front of me." I said, "Dr. Liu, what is the schedule?" She said, "Six Wednesday afternoons in October-November." I said, "Dr. Liu, I will do it." She paid me a small honorarium that I again donated back, this time to the clinic's patient food assistance fund.

I told Sofía Friday. She said, "Ma, you are everywhere now." I said, "Mija, I am one place at a time. The places are accumulating." She said, "Ma, you are sixty in two months." I said, "Mija, do not remind me." She said, "Ma, I am throwing you a party." I said, "Mija, no." She said, "Mija yes." She had taken to flipping it on me. I laughed. Wepa.

The carne guisada was Marcus’s, and the rice was Yolanda’s, and the serving was Brian’s — but the spirit behind all of it, that impulse to take something humble and make it land with dignity, is the same spirit I bring to Martha’s Fish Tacos. This is the kind of recipe that moves through a line gracefully: fresh, cool enough for summer, easy to hold and easy to love. Dr. Liu asked me to teach the why behind the food, and this one is a good place to start — lean protein, bright acid, a little fat from the avocado, nothing wasted.

Martha’s Fish Tacos

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb white fish fillets (cod, tilapia, or mahi-mahi), cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded green cabbage
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo or fresh salsa
• 1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 limes, cut into wedges
• Fresh cilantro, for serving

Instructions

1. Season the fish. Pat fish pieces dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub the spice mixture evenly over all sides of the fish.
2. Cook the fish. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish pieces in a single layer and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, until opaque and lightly golden at the edges. Remove from heat and flake into large chunks with a fork.
3. Warm the tortillas. Heat corn tortillas one at a time directly over a gas burner or in a dry skillet over medium heat, about 30 seconds per side, until pliable and lightly charred. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
4. Assemble the tacos. Lay two warm tortillas on each plate. Top with a small handful of shredded cabbage, a few pieces of seasoned fish, two or three avocado slices, and a spoonful of pico de gallo.
5. Finish and serve. Drizzle with sour cream or Greek yogurt. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 390mg