Cashew Coconut Crusted Mahi-Mahi

Cashew Coconut Mahi Mahi is the perfect balance of flavors and textures. It's crunchy and tender, sweet and savory.

I have a confession to make... I don't prepare fish fillets all that often.

It's not that we don't love fish here at my house, it's just that my mind doesn't always gravitate to it when I'm planning dinners and grocery shopping lists.

Mahi-Mahi is by far my favorite fish to prepare and eat so the last time I was at Costco I purchased a big bag of frozen mahi-mahi fillets.

Even though the fillets were pricey, I figured that we'd get at least two or three meals (including leftovers) out of that one big bag.

As I was running a few preparation scenarios around in my head the night I decided to prepare the fish, I remembered that I had some raw cashews, and also some unsweetened coconut in my freezer.

Since mahi-mahi is naturally sweet in flavor, using unsweetened coconut is key to the success of this recipe. In my opinion, using sweetened coconut would be much too sweet and would overpower the delicate sweetness of the fish itself. Since I only had raw cashews in my freezer, that's what I used. However, in this particular instance, I do believe that salted, roasted cashews would work swimmingly well. Get it? Fish humor.

*Note - After coating the fish with the nuts and coconut, chill for at least 20 minutes as this will help the coating adhere to the fish during the cooking process.

CASHEW AND COCONUT CRUSTED MAHI-MAHI   {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Serves:  4         Prep Time:  30 minutes (includes chill time)     Cook Time: 10 minutes

4 mahi-mahi fish fillets (thawed if originally frozen)
1 cup raw cashews (roasted, salted would work well too)
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1½ teaspoons salt, divided
½ teaspoon pepper, divided
½ cup cashew milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons grape seed oil (or other light-colored oil) for frying

-Place the cashews, coconut, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

-Place the crumbs into a shallow dish, and in separate shallow dish mix together the cashew milk, egg, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

-One at a time, place each fillet in the cashew milk mixture (turning to coat) and then into the cashew and coconut mixture, making sure to press the nut mixture firmly onto both sides of the fillet. Place the coated fillets on a baking sheet. When all the fillets are coated, refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

-In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the coated fillets and cook until golden brown (approximately 4-5 minutes). Flip and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until golden brown.

-Remove and serve immediately.

My husband and I both enjoyed this Cashew and Coconut Crusted Mahi-Mahi immensely. Since it's only the two of us I'm cooking for these days (yes, we're finally "empty-nesters"), we had plenty for dinner that night. Plus we both had leftovers for the next day's lunch. YAY!

Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of the bag of mahi-mahi but I don't suppose it will be all that hard to figure out. After all, when you start with a delicious blank canvas (aka the mahi-mahi), the rest comes easily.

Speaking of delicious mahi-mahi recipes, check out this one that I shared a few months back. It's another one of my favorites and is perfect for a light, refreshing meal.

Seared Mahi-Mahi with Pineapple, Grape, and Avocado Salsa: