Fork it Over | Taco Bowl Tuesday
It's that time again! I'm back with another recipe that only take about thirty minutes to cook and which is reasonably healthy, depending on how much cheese you add. I'll be honest, I may have added more after this picture. But that's neither here nor there!
First, you need to procure your ingredients. I used ground beef because I hadn't eaten any in a while, and because the beef "chops up" more nicely in the pan than ground turkey, but you can substitute any kind of turkey meat or veggie fake-beef that you want. This is a choose your own ending type of recipe!
Ingredients - ground beef, ground turkey, or faux meat (I used 85% lean ground beef) - fresh tomatoes - lettuce - cheese (I used medium cheddar but cotija cheese would be a great substitute!) - cilantro - limes - garlic or garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili powder (I used Urfa chili!) optional: red onion, avocado, pinto beans
The real key is to buy a cooler-bag from the expensive grocery store you are patronizing. That's a make-or-break moment in this entire cooking process, dontcha know.
Alright alright, enough chitchat! Let's taco about how to cook this meat... har har. I bought about a pound from the store and had leftovers for two days.
Step 1: Core your tomatoes from the top and then use a sharp knife to chop the rest into bite-sized chunks.
Step 2: Plop your meat into a non-stick frying pan (or add a bit of oil to a regular pan) and begin spreading it out. It's going to look gross for a while, so bear with me here.
Step 3: Add your spices - the garlic powder, the salt and pepper, and a smidgen of chili powder.
Step 4: Stir until spices are evenly mixed (or as evenly as possible.) Keep an eye on your meat, cooking over medium heat until thoroughly cooked.
Step 5: While watching the meat (more theoretically than literally - don't chop off any fingers here!) dice up your cilantro. I like a LOT of cilantro so I chopped some extra. It's a great detoxifier!
Step 6: When the meat is cooked into a deep brown, turn off the pan and let it sit for a moment while you assemble the food troops.
Step 7: You should grate your cheese, slice your limes, and make sure you have enough tomatoes and cilantro to go around. This is also the part (duh) where you'd chop some red onion or avocado if desired!
Don't forget your lettuce - that's the entire point of this "bowl" situation.
Step 8: Assemble! The lime juice adds a great tangy flavor to the meat and the cheese makes you feel just indulgent enough to forget you don't have tortillas. Of course, you can always heat up some tortillas and rip little bits to make mini-tacos. That's fun too.
Poll time: if you could only ever use three taco toppings, what would they be? I think mine would still be cilantro, lime, and cheese. Mmmmmmm cheese.