Quick Meal Friday: Fish Pita Pockets

This is a refreshing take on the old make-your-own taco night than I'm sure many of us had as kids. Remember opening the box of El Paso hard corn tortillas? The sheer delight of choosing your own fillings? Hmm... were yours like the ones I recall? Ground beef sauteed in a seasoning packet? Shredded cheddar or American cheese? Shredded iceberg lettuce? Jarred salsa? Possibly tomatoes?

{BTW, Trader Joes attempted a little comeback on this classic family dinner, selling its own boxed pre-formed tortilla shells and a meat seasoning packet (incidentally we found the seasoning to be far too spicy for our wimpy taste buds). Just in case you need to revisit your past...}

Here we made our own lightly battered, fried fish fillet slices, and served these with baby spinach, sliced purple cabbage, and a yogurt sauce in homemade pita pockets. I'll get to those in a future post. Go ahead, buy your own pita and you could get this on the table in under 30 minutes.

Fish Pita Pockets
Serves 4.

one pound whitefish fillets (we used frozen tilapia)
1/2 cup panko crumbs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and ground pepper
2 eggs
1/4 head of purple cabbage
4 ounces baby spinach leaves
8 ounces nonfat Greek yogurt
zest and juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley or cilantro or dill
1/4 cup canola oil, plus extra as needed for frying

Pat dry fish fillets with paper towels and slice crosswise into one-inch-wide strips. Combine panko, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow dish, such as a pie plate. In a second shallow dish, whisk eggs gently. Slice the cabbage and place in serving dish. Rinse spinach and place in serving dish. Gently whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, herbs and salt and pepper in a third dish.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Check temperature by flicking water from your hands into the pan; when the bubbles jump, the pan is ready. Dip fish strips into egg dish and then into panko mixture, shaking off extra. Turn heat down to medium, and gently lay fish into pan ensuring that each piece has space surrounding it. Fry gently until underside is browned, about 2 minutes per side, turning down heat if needed to prevent browning too quickly. Flip and brown other side, about 2 minutes. Place fish in another dish and serve with vegetables, yogurt sauce, and pita pockets.