Seventeen months ago, when I began to hear talk of a pandemic, I filled my freezer with frozen foods, unsure of how we were going to get groceries. As it turned out, delivery services blossomed and we began to truly understand the meaning of an essential worker.
The food in the freezer remained untouched, which meant very little space for other freezer items, like good gin. It had gotten to the point that closing the thing involved complex resorting/cramming.
Frustrated, last week I vowed to start eating the frozen foods to make room for summer essentials, like popsicles, mochi and more good gin.
Tonight I used up a half package of frozen fish filets that I swear had been taunting me every time I attempted to close the freezer, and made crispy New England fish wraps for dinner. To supplement the fish and melted Swiss cheese, I made a slaw from America’s Test Kitchen that I modified to include radish, along with half a small cabbage from the CSA.
I’m thinking of it as a more refined Filet O’ Fish. And it was wonderful. What’s more, I have a new, mayo-free slaw, which would work well packed for summertime picnics. And thus, my adoration for cabbage continues.
When I dreamed up this sandwich, I envisioned it as a play on a lunch special in the beforetimes. I used 10-inch tortillas I tend to use for quesadillas. I prepared the fish as directed, although I opened up the toaster oven about three minutes before it was done and slipped pieces of Swiss cheese onto the filets to melt it.
After heating the tortilla for about 10 seconds to make it more pliable (I used a microwave, but a pan would work too), I spread a tartar sauce I made simply by mixing about a tablespoon of relish with about 2½ tablespoons of mayonnaise.
Then came a pile of slaw — I found it made enough for two wraps, plus a few bites of leftovers. Then I folded the wrap at the bottom, rolled it like a burrito, sliced it on a diagonal, and devoured it.
Looking back, the only thing missing was a dill pickle spear. A little bit of beforetimes diner lunch for dinner, and one step closer to closing my freezer.
by America’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 and a half teaspoons vegetable oil
1 and a half teaspoons sugar
Pinch of salt
One quarter teaspoon pepper
1 and a half cups shredded red or green cabbage
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 radish, sliced into thin matchsticks
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or cilantro
Directions
Whisk vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add cabbage, carrot, radish and parsley and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.