Tortilla Crusted Fish and Rice with Cheese Sour Cream Sauce

One day while I was searching for a new fish recipe  to try I stumbled upon Lean Cuisine’s Tortilla Crusted Fish.  After poking around I found out that it’s one of the most famous and beloved dish from Lean Cuisine line of products. This made me feel almost obligated to try it, and that’s exactly what I did. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised as the fish did have nice texture and crunch despite being frozen and then cooked in a  microwave. Anyway my search for Friday night dinner was over! Try it out for yourself, even if you never heard of the Lean Cuisine one.

The first thing you want to do is start the rice, about a cup as directed on the package. Then turn the oven to 400 Fahrenheit, and you’re ready to start.

Take about 3 cups  or about a small Zippo bag of tortilla chips.

Place them in a Zippo bag if you didn’t do that already, and just start crushing it with your fist. If you want you can use a food processor but it’s really unnecessary and the bag method lets you control the texture better.

Now place the crushed tortilla chips into a shallow bowl or plate and set aside.  If you like the more flavorful crust just  add some chopped  cilantro, or take it even further by add cumin and chili powder. Set it aside. Now take your fish, I’m using  2 cod fillets and its about 2 1/2 pounds, wash them and pat dry them with a paper towel.

Dust the fillets with flour on both side, or just dip them into the flour, and set aside.  Now take another dish and beat an egg in it.

Once you have everything in order grab the fish, dip it in the egg mixture, and then place it in the crushed tortilla chips. Flip it a few times to make sure it’s properly coated , set aside and repeat with the second fillet. Once that’s done place the fish on a non-stick baking sheet, or use baking parchment like I do.

You can crush the chips into smaller pieces for a thinner but denser crust.

Now either put the fish in the fridge while you start preparing the veggies or if you’re a fast chopper  and a multitasker place it in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until fork tender.

For the veggies you need to preheat a skillet or a large pan and chop up about a half a cup of green pepper , half a cup of red pepper (half a bell pepper is roughly half a cup chopped pepper), and half a cup of frozen corn. I’m aware that in the Lean Cuisine version they use poblano peppers, but I went with bell peppers as they are commonly available.  Throw them on the hot pan and let them sizzle until semi-soft stirring occasionally, which should be around 5 minutes.

As the veggies and fish are cooking combine 3 tablespoons of sour cream , and half a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. When the veggies are ready either transfer them to a baking pan and mix with rice, or if you using a baking safe pan just mix the rice in it. After you do that place tablespoonfuls of the cheddar and sour cream mixture on the top of the rice.  If you like it cheesier sprinkle about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese on top of the rice, and bake for 5 minutes in the same temperature as the fish.

Squeeze some lemon juice on the fish, and serve.

Ingredients:
3 cups of tortilla chips
2 1/2 half pound Cod
1 egg
Flour
1/2 cup of green pepper
1/2 cup of red pepper
1/2 cup of frozen corn
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (1/4 -  1/2 cup more  to on top)
3 tablespoons of sour cream
1 cup of rice (uncooked)

Optional:
Cilantro
Cumin
Chili powder
Lemon juice

Quick Directions:
1.  Cook rice, and  preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit.
2.  Crush 3 cups of tortilla chips
3.  Prepare the fish by dusting it in flour, dipping inside the beaten egg, and finally in the crushed tortilla chips.
4. Bake the fish fort 15 minutes
5.  Chop the peppers, and cook them on a pan together with the corn.
6. Mix the sour cream and cheese together.
7. Mix the rice and veggies together, place the cheese mixture on top of it, and bake for 5 minutes.
8.  Serve together with the fish and enjoy.