Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Taco Bar

Obviously, taco bar is not a complicated or sophisticated recipe, but it is a crowd pleaser and a must-have for my family! There are many optional ingredients when making tacos, below you will find how I prepared taco bar for a recent dinner club meal.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1/3 cup taco seasoning (I buy in bulk at Costco)
¼ cup diced red bell pepper
¼ cup diced white onion
1 cup water
1 heart of romaine lettuce, chopped
4 small vine-ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of shredded colby/jack cheese
½ cup salsa
1 ripe avocado
4 oz. sliced black olives
6 oz. organic red corn tortilla chips
8 La Tortilla Factory high-fiber, whole wheat, large tortillas (unbelievably good and good for you - thanks to Janae for suggesting these :)
½ cup low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Directions:
Brown ground turkey in a saucepan. While turkey is cooking, saute bell pepper and onion in a small saucepan.  When ground turkey is browned, add the taco seasoning, water, bell peppers, and onions to the saucepan.  Simmer meat mixture for 10-15 minutes.  Drain excess liquid from meat mixture.

Hand chop or use food processor to prepare romaine lettuce and tomatoes.  Set out black olives, sour cream, salsa and shredded cheese in a condiment dish, add chopped lettuce and tomatoes.

Helpful Tip:  Prepare avocado by slicing it down the center lengthwise, remove pit in center.  Spread the avocado and cut through the "meat" of it lengthwise and crosswise.  Scoop out chopped avocado with a large spoon.  Place avocado pieces in condiment dish with the rest of the taco bar fixings.
Option: after you prepare your avocado, you could mix it with your desired amount of salsa to make guacamole.  Sometimes I prefer the simplicity of fresh avocado, as tonight's recipe suggests.

Place 1-3 tortillas on a plate, with a dampened paper towel on top, in the microwave.  Heat tortillas for 15 seconds a piece.

Assemble your taco with desired condiments and enjoy with a side of red corn tortilla chips and salsa!

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