Commenter Kev (who chimed in on a recent post) reminded me that I’ve had a desire to write a post about tacos for some time.
Remember that CBC National segment that my family was supposed to appear in (written about here and here)? It aired back in January and is online here. Kev’s family was chosen to be featured instead of mine (no hard feelings, seriously), but something they showed in that segment has been gnawing at me (seriously) and I’ve wanted to write about it here ever since.
It’s about TACOS. Kev, I don’t want to offend you or anyone else who’s in the same taco-shaped boat, but when I heard the WHOOSH of that pre-packaged taco seasoning being dumped into your frying pan my tongue suddenly went very dry. :)
Did you Fishies know that kind of taco seasoning is pretty much all salt and WHOKNOWSWHAT. I was doubly reminded of this at the grocery store the other day. Every other boxed taco shell product was actually a kit. i.e. it came with everything but the meat… seasoning salsa etc.
I look at it and think: who needs this??
My friends, you can make awesome tacos without the kit. And notch up the health factor pretty effortlessly too.
Say si señorita to healthier tacos. All you need to do is arrange the following:
- cut up some raw veggies: lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, a rainbow of peppers, green onion, whatever floats your boat
- you could even make some guacamole!
- fry up some red or white onion (seriously, whatever you have is fine) in a teaspoon of olive oil
- put out a couple little bowls of sour cream and salsa
- grate some cheddar or monterey jack cheese
- bake the taco shell in the oven as per directions on the box
Dice a bit of onion and fry it up with some ground meat (chicken or beef). When it’s cooked and no pink parts remain, drain fat. Then add a large dollop of salsa to taste … and heat it all up
That’s it! Some people add various seasonings, cumin, paprika etc, but this is all we do. No taco kits required!
If you wanted to make your own taco seasoning you could experiment with various amounts of the spices above and maybe some chili powder, garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes and pepper. But try skipping the kit next time (and the salt!) and see what happens.
How do you make tacos at your house?
