FishTacos with Mango Salsa and Cilantro Lime Sauce
(A Bonnie Favorite)
Ingredients
1 lb. flaky white fish, such as halibut, tilapia, sole, or snapper (we used Amberjack)
4 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
10 to 12 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cabbage
For Lime Sauce:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or pressed
Salt
For Mango Salsa:
1 bell pepper (red, yellow, and/or orange), deseeded and chopped into 1/4-inchsquares
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and diced
2 just-ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch square chunks
1 handful cilantro, washed, dried, destemmed, and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
Directions
Prepare the fish marinade by combining the fresh lime juice with the vegetableoil and soy sauce in a rectangular glass or ceramic dish. Add the fish, turn tocoat, and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Prepare the chipotle-lime sauce bycombining the mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, chipotle chile, and chopped garlic in a bowl. Season to taste with salt.
Prepare mango salsa by mixing all ingredients together in a medium-large bowl and season to taste with salt.
Remove fish from the marinade and grill or saute until cooked through. Warm the tortillas, either in the oven, microwave, or saute in oil. Set out individual bowls of the sauce, salsa, and shredded cabbage.
For each individual taco, place someof the fish (breaking off chunks of the cooked fillets) on a tortilla, drizzle with the chipotle-lime sauce, and top with cabbage and mango salsa.
The Stovepipe – Review by Martha A.
Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; A Book and A Dish; Think With Your Taste
Buds
…we saw a large, black automobile
drive into our lane. It pulled slowly into the backyard and stopped
beside the house where we were playing. We all stood frozen. In a
poor rural area, it was rare to see an automobile on the road, let alone have
one pull into our own yard. Muggs must have know it meant trouble, for
she quickly opened the cellar door and herded us all inside. But it was
too late, for she had been spotted. No sooner had the door been slammed
shut than it was flung open, exposing my sisters and me as we huddled fearfully
inside. “Come out,” a man said as he tugged on our arms, pulling us out
one by one. As we hurried to Muggs’ side, the man said, “We’d like to
speak with your mother.” Muggs shook her head. “I’m sorry, but she
ain’t home right now.” At that, without saying another word, he and
a woman who had come with him grabbed my sisters and me and pushed us, kicking
and screaming, into the backseat of the car. They then rounded up Bobby
and shoved him in beside us.
Bonnie Virag was one of 2 sets of
twins birthed by her mother Flossie Bell Mudford. Flossie Bell had a
total of 18 children of which Bonnie can remembered 14 counting herself.
By the time Bonnie and her twin sister Betty, her twin sisters Jean and Joan
and her brother Bobby were taken from the home 6 of the older children had
already left. Most of the girls’ care was provided by one of her older sisters,
Margaret which they fondly called Muggs. But due to Muggs being a child
herself, Children’s Service felt they had no choice but to take the younger
ones from the home, leaving them all feeling lost and alone.
When I started reading The
Stovepipe, I had just finished another autobiography by a lady who,
along with her siblings, had been placed in an orphanage. The trials and
mistreatment they went through was heartbreaking. I truly thought that
children placed in foster homes had to be better. That isn’t necessarily
true. Bonnie and her siblings ended up on a Tobacco farm and put to work
as if they were mere slaves. They were housed in the attic and not
allowed to come into the house except to go to their rooms. Meals were
served after the family had finished eating and heating in
their attic rooms consisted of The Stovepipe that ran up through
the ceiling. Their living conditions, mistreatment by the family members,
their lack of love and even their simplest needs were non-existing. It
really took some strong willed individuals to survive what these children
were forced to suffer through.
As I read The Stovepipe,
I grew to admire Bonnie and her siblings. She is a woman I would
love to sit down with and simply listen to as she tells stories of her
childhood. Some of the stories within her autobiography would have been
funny had the consequences for their actions not been so severe. I
couldn’t help but laugh when I read about the yard being covered with paper the
girls had hidden within the rafters and uncovered when the roofers started
work. But I wanted to cry when the foster family punished them for their
innocent deed.
I can only hope and pray that things
have changed since Bonnie and her siblings were brought up in the system of
foster care. No child should ever be inflicted with excessive pain and
sorrow, especially after the a child has already been hurt by the loss of
their own family or the lack of ever knowing one. These children
should be treated as the special people they really are.
The Stovepipe is a book that EVERY parent should read and hopefully
stress to their own children, the heartbreak of being in the system. Bonnie and her sisters should be very proud
of themselves for being survivors and not allowing their experiences to weaken
them but to make them stronger and better people.