Taco – Fervent Foodie

A different kind of taco meat.

August 5, 2011 12 Comments

Mexican food = my fav.

Ok, maybe it’s second fav (right after Italian)… but it’s pretty high on the things I’d like to eat this very moment list, that is fo sure.

Whenever I make tacos at home, I always go with ground turkey or ground beef and a packet of taco seasoning. It’s tasty and super duper easy, of course, but it can get a teensy bit boring week after week.

Then I stumbled across this Cooking Light recipe for Chicken and Black Bean Stuffed Burritos.

Enter totally tasty un-boring taco meat:

This was pretty darn easy to pull together, and the meat is tasty and versatile. Perfect for busy season batch cookin!

All you need to do is combine the following together in a saucepan and bring to a boil:

1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Once it boils, stir in 1/4 cup of sliced green onions and 1 pound of shredded chicken – you could use rotisserie chicken, but I just grilled a large chicken breast up on the George and gave it a good shred using two forks.

And just like that, the meat is done!

I planned to make a burrito, but the tortillas I had at home were teeny tiny so I decided a quesadilla was the way to go:

This is 1/4 of the chicken:

A top a Trader Joe’s Low carb tortilla:

Plus 1/4 cup black beans, 1/4 cup fresh salsa, and 2 tbsp fat-free cheddar cheese:

Then I tossed another tortilla on top, and popped that puppy back on the George. I let it hang out on the grill until it was crispy and the cheese was melty, then I sliced the quesadilla up and served it up with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (FABULOUS sour cream substitute):

So yummy!

Stats on the quesadilla: 350 calories, 36g carbs, 7g fat, 42g protein, 17g fiber

The next night, I decided to use up some of the leftover chicken by making a huge arse salad. I used 4 ounces of the chicken and all the same toppers as I did with the quesadilla and just threw everything a top a bed of mixed greens:

Hello two totally tasty totally healthy dinners that DO NOT taste like cardboard! I truly believe you can throw ANYTHING on top of lettuce and call it a salad 🙂

Stats on one giant salad: 275 calories, 19g carbs, 4g fat, 35g protein, 5 fiber

So in summary, this meat was just as easy to cook up as ground meat, but had a TOTALLY different taste. And it was delish on tacos, quesadillas, salads. Two thumbs up in my book!

Recipes

How to make your own ground meat

February 1, 2011 14 Comments

So, did everyone else know how crazy easy it is to make your own ground meats? I had no idea until I saw a blurb in Cooking Light about putting chicken breast in a food processor. Sound odd to anyone else? I was intrigued so I decided to give it a go over the weekend.

Take a looksie at these chicken tacos I made!

I don’t mean to brag, but that may be the most beautiful taco I’ve ever laid eyes on. What’s even more beautful was how super easy it was to make. First I started by tossing 1 jalapeno and 2 tsp minced garlic into a food processor:

I gave that a good pulse:

Then added 8 ounces chopped chicken breast:

And literally 10 seonds later I had my very own homemade (slightly green tinted) ground chicken breast!

Isn’t it funny how something so simple can give you such a great sense of pride and accomplishment? 😀

I threw the ground chicken into a pan and seasoned with S&P and some cayenne pepper:

The meat cooked up in no time!

Next I sliced up some fresh avocado. Delicioussssssssnesssssss:

I used some Tumaro’s Low Carb tortillas (only 60 calories a pop) for my taco base, then added 2 ounces of the chicken, some chopped red onion, tomato, shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, a little dribble of fat free sour cream, about 2 tbsp of avocado, and a little drizzle o’ lime:

A little overboard on the toppings? Perhaps…

I also added some Frank’s red hot for good measure (its hiding under the veggies)

8 ounces of chicken made me enough for four tacos. I ate two for dinner, and wrapped the remaining two up in plastic wrap for dinner the next night (by the way, the tacos were equally delicious cold 🙂 ).

So tasty and SO colorful!

Stats on 1 taco: 194 calories, 21g carbs, 7g fat, 19g protein, 10g fiber

Stats on dos tacos: 388 calories, 42g carbs, 14g fat, 38g protein, 20g fiber

Recipes

10-Minute Taco Salad for One

January 7, 2011 3 Comments

When I was a kid, there were a few dinners that I got off the charts excited about. Spaghetti, Meatloaf, Stuffed Cabbages, Steaaaaaak, anything involving potatoes, Paella, Hamburgers, Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese… ok maybe there were more than a few…. But one of the ULTIMATES was Taco Salad Night. Just thinking about it makes my tummy rumble!

Last night, in anticipation of my very own Taco Salad Night, I pulled 4 ounces of 93% fat free turkey breast from the freezer to defrost. I swear, freezing individually portioned meats (and meals) never ceases to bring me joy!

Four ounces of love:

All I could think about ALL DAY at work was TACO SALAD! I’m talking a serious unable-to-computate-numbers craving. I could barely make it til 5. Thankfully, my tasty taco salad for one cooks up in ten minutes flat—sooooo, I didn’t have too long to wait once I finally arrived at home.

Feast yo’ eyes!

First up, I seasoned the defrosted turkey breast up with a little salt and pepper and cooked in a sauté pan until no longer pink. Then I sprinkled on 1 tbsp of McCormick’s taco seasoning blend and a 1/4 cup a water, reduced the heat, and let the turkey simmer away until the liquid thickened.

Meanwhile, I put 1/2 a bag of romaine lettuce on a plate and topped with some chopped tomato, onion, banana peppers, 2 tbsp fat free sour cream, and the secret ingredient: 10 smashed up baked nacho cheese Doritos.

10 minutes to tasty!

When the hot meat hits the smashed Doritos and mixes in with the sour cream you get this deliciously cheesy slightly spicy oh-so-creamy sauce.

LOVE this taco salad!

Stats on the taco salad: 368 calories, 34g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 8g fiber