Ground Chicken Tacos

Taco Tuesday just got super easy and nutritious! 

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground chicken 

3-4 tbsps diced onion 

2 tbsps olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp tomato paste 

2 tbsps taco seasoning 

1/2 cup water

2 - 10" whole wheat flour tortillas 

Extras: lettuce or spinach, diced tomatoes, diced cucumber, shredded Habanero cheddar, and a dollop of sour cream or caesar dressing. 

If you'd like to make your own taco seasoning here's a link to my homemade taco seasoning recipe:

https://www.hotandcoldrunningmom.ca/2016/05/homemade-taco-seasoning.html?m=1 

Heat oil to medium in a large skillet and brown the diced onion, salt and pepper 2 minutes. Move the onion to the sides of the pan and add the chicken.  Press to flatten and brown 2 minutes. Then flip it over and brown another 3 minutes breaking it up as it cooks. Once well browned add the tomato paste, water and taco seasoning and simmer until the water is reduced and you're left with juicy ground chicken taco filling. Lay whole wheat tortillas out and put down a bed of spinach (or other greens). Spoon the meat on top and add your extras. You may attempt wrapping these to eat but I preferred a knife and fork. Serves 2

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Taco Enchiladas

When you're feeling like enchiladas but it's Taco Tuesday ... 

Ingredients:

2 tsps taco seasoning, store bought or homemade

1 lb beef/pork mix

2 cups salsa, store bought or homemade

1/2 cup kernel corn, canned or frozen (or fresh of course!)

1/2 cup black beans

1 large onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 - 1 jalapeño, finely chopped

2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

8 - 6" tortillas

Your favourite taco toppings: tomato, cucs, lettuce, refried beans, sour cream

Brown the beef/pork and onion in a large skillet, breaking up the ground meat. Add the bell pepper and jalapeño and cook until the meat is cooked through. Add taco seasoning, corn, black beans and 1/2 cup salsa. Remove from heat and add 1 cup cheese.

Spread 1/2 cup of salsa in the bottom of a 13 X 9 baking dish. Divide the meat mixture into 8 portions and fill tortillas, placing them seam side down in the dish.

Pour the remaining salsa over the top and cover with cheese. Oil a piece of foil and cover the dish.

Bake in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes, then uncover and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Serve with bowls of diced tomato, chopped lettuce, etc. so everyone can top their taco enchiladas the way they like it!

And if you'd like to make either homemade taco seasoning or salsa then here are the links to the recipes:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/05/homemade-taco-seasoning.html

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2018/09/homemade-salsa.html

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Pulled Pork Wrap or Taco

Typically served in a bun, I thought I'd give this pulled pork a light makeover using flour tortillas and taco shells. You could even go lettuce-only Asian style.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced

2 1/2 lb pork shoulder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup ketchup

1 cup salsa

3/4 cup cola

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

3 tsps minced garlic

1 tsp red pepper flakes

flour tortillas, taco shells, and/or lettuce leaves to wrap

rice (optional)

Start with putting the sliced onion on the bottom of the crockpot and sit the pork on top. Then mix the rest of the ingredients together for the sauce and pour it over the meat.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Easy peasy right?!

If you want to use a conventional oven use a casserole deep enough so the sauce keeps the meat covered. Then cover and slow cook in a 300°F oven for 3 1/2 hours.

Once the meat is cooked transfer to a plate and shred with forks, discarding the layer of fat from the shoulder. Return the shredded pork to the sauce and keep warm until ready to serve.

Wrap it up in a tortilla with lettuce and rice or skip the tortilla and go gluten-free with just a large lettuce leaf.

Or tuck some into a taco shell! NomNomNom 😋

This recipe serves 6-8

Taco Stack

This Taco Stack is an easy meal for Taco Tuesday or taco any day. And if you are in Covid19 isolation and don't have all the ingredients then I have included plenty of substitutes. Like, if you don't have tortillas you can use pitas. Then, instead of Taco Tuesday it could be a Pita Party. But don't invite me to your pita party...don't invite anyone!! We're in self isolation!!! 

Ingredients:
8 small tortillas (or large ones, or pitas, split)
1 lb ground beef (or pork, chicken or turkey)
1 onion chopped (or green pepper, or leave it out)
2 tbsps taco seasoning (or make your own, recipe link below)
1/2 cup refried beans (or leave them out)
1 cup black beans (or kidney or pinto or whatever)
You can even substitute kernel corn for the beans
1  1/2 cups salsa (or canned tomatoes and jalapeño peppers)
a couple of squirts sriracha sauce (or any hot sauce)
3/4 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, cheddar, mozzarella)

Brown the beef in a skillet then add the onion and cook until onion is tender. Add the taco seasoning and remove from heat. Stir in the black beans, sriracha, 1/2 cup salsa and 1/4 cup cheese.

To start the stack spoon some salsa into the bottom of a baking dish. This will keep the tortilla from sticking. Lay a tortilla on top.

Roughly divide the meat in the pan into 6 portions (or 8 if not using refried beans) Add 1/6 of the meat mixture on top of the first tortilla. Add another tortilla and more meat.

After a couple of meat layers add 1/2 the refried beans (or more meat if not using refried beans) and continue stacking... a couple of meat layers and a refried bean layer.

End with meat on top then ladle the rest of the salsa on.

And the rest of the cheese piled high!

Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes then let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Great with a side of salad!

Serves 4
And don't forget to check out the recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning below ↓

Here's the link to Homemade Taco Seasoning

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/05/homemade-taco-seasoning.html