Tacos!

Salmon Tacos

Many of us are guilty of falling into cooking ruts, including myself.  It is quite easy to fall into a pattern of making the same meals over and over again simply because you are comfortable with making the dish, everyone likes it and pure and simple – it’s just easy.  I try very hard to add variety to my dinner meals and experiment with new and interesting dishes because I find that it keeps things interesting and it exposes my kids to a variety of foods (ethnic or ingredient-wise).  However, there are days that I’m running short on time or I just simply don’t feel like putting a lot of effort into dinner.  My quick fixes are probably not that different from yours – here are a few of my stand-bys:

• Steak, potatoes, vegetable
• Stroganoff
• Spaghetti
• Stir fry 
• Tacos

I’d like to spend some time on taco’s this month because as many of you know, they are a cinch to prepare, don’t require a ton of ingredients and everyone always is up for a taco!  Years ago I gave up worrying about the taco seasoning packets and now just use my own spices to create my own taco seasoning.  I don’t always use measuring spoons since I now have a feel for which spices and approximately how much I need – but generally speaking here’s my secret formula for basic taco seasoning:

(for about 1-1/2 lbs of meat)

• 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Brown the meat, add your seasoning and let cook over medium low heat until the flavors have imparted throughout the meat, stirring frequently.  Serve with fresh diced tomatoes, lettuce, onions, grated cheese, corn tortillas and your favorite salsa and sour cream (if you like)….and voila dinner is served!  

If you want to vary things a bit without adding really any more difficulty but just want something slightly different try changing up the meat – maybe instead of ground meat, use chicken or broil some fish with the seasoning and use that as your taco meat.  If you are a vegetarian, sauté vegetables in the seasoning above and add some beans to your tacos for a more filling meal.  For some great ideas to add variety to taco night (without too much trouble), check out these yummy taco recipes:

Chicken Tacos
Salmon Tacos
Steak Tacos
Turkey Tacos

- Chef Yvonne

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