Taco Night 7/10

Taco Night

The Perfect Taco Night

 

We'll be meeting at Evelyn M. Schiffler Memorial Park.  

Ingredients

• The Tortillas:
• Corn tortillas
• Flour tortillas
• (Optional) Hard taco shells: It’s good to have some hard shells handy for the pure gringos in the group, like my daughter Cate and my mom Phyllis!
• Do you have a tortilla warmer? If you don’t, you should get one! I love being able to heat up a bunch of tortillas, toss them in the warmer and have them ready all at once when we dig in.
• The Meat:
• Grilled chicken: Whether you cook the chicken in a grill pan with a bit of olive oil on the stove or on an actual grill, simply salt and pepper the chicken prior to cooking and cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF. I like to use boneless skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs. Sometimes, after I cut the cooked chicken into small pieces, I will toss it in a bowl with about a quarter of a packet of taco seasoning. Super yum!
• Taco Meat: Everybody still loves good ol’ taco meat! I often use a taco seasoning packet but, if I don’t have that handy, I just season the cooked ground beef or ground turkey with salt, pepper, dried garlic, dried onion, chili powder, paprika and cumin.
• (Optional) Carne Asada: We hardly ever have this because I’m lazy, but it makes for some darn good taco-ing.
• (Optional) Grilled Salmon: This is another one that we rarely serve on taco night, but when we do it’s delish! Click here for a recipe for grilled salmon that is flavored perfectly for tacos.
• The Rice:
• Whether you put the rice right on your taco or eat it on the side, rice is a necessity for the perfect taco night! Click here for a cilantro-lime rice recipe that works great!
• The Toppings:
• Grilled bell peppers and onions (both sliced thin before cooking)
• Avocado (sliced or cut into chunks) and/or guacamole
• Lime slices
• Shredded cheese
• Beans (pinto, black or peruan are all delish!): You can of course use canned beans, but homemade beans are really, truly easy to make and TASTE SO GOOD. Click here for recipe.
• Sour cream
• Salsa
• Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
• Chopped romaine lettuce or jalapeño slaw
• Chopped tomatoes