Ground Beef Tacos

Let me start by saying that this was my first try and I made a very modified to accommodate kids. If I made tacos for myself, they would’ve been in corn tortillas. Next time I will use different seasoning too, but we live and learn - nothing to be done about it.

Tacos might not be known as a dietary food, but you can easily make them healthier by avoiding sour cream and cheese. You should also replace my flour tortillas with gluten-free corn and you will have a version of tacos that even Nutrisystem wouldn’t frown about.

Years ago I used to work in a Cuban restaurant, which had the best fish tacos in town, today for some reason I remembered them and decided to make taco myself. I had ground beef waiting to be cooked, so fish tacos will have to wait.

Tacos are very easy to make, they literally take a few minutes to put together once you have all the ingredients ready. Whatever meat you are using has to be cooked, but everything else is just chopped and arranged. I think this meal might become a staple for weekday dinners in our house when there is no time for something fancy. There are two notes for myself – buy taco seasoning with cumin and make salsa instead of plain chopped tomatoes. Everything else was perfect!

Let’s take a look:

Ingredients:

• Organic flour tortillas (corn is even better)
• 1 organic ground beef package, about one pound
• ½ of sweet onion
• 1 large head of organic iceberg lettuce
• Some chopped organic purple cabbage
• 5 small organic tomatoes
• 1 organic lime
• 1 organic avocado
• Organic shredded sharp cheddar or cheddar mix
• Organic sour cream
• Fresh cilantro bunch

The biggest job here is to cook the meat.

Place your ground beef in a frying pan together with a chopped ½ head of onion. If your beef is about 20% fat, you won’t even need any oil.

Cook it thoroughly while stirring frequently. Seasoning comes into play here too. I used my universal soup seasoning and added salt, pepper, garlic salt, and Greek seasoning, but the meat lacked some kick.

This is why I say that next time I will buy Mexican seasoning mix made for tacos.

While the meat is cooking, you can start chopping. Cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes need to be chopped and placed on a plate for easy access when tacos will be arranged. Next time instead of tomatoes I will make salsa with onion, lime juice, jalapenos, and a little bit of garlic.

Today tomatoes were fine and kids liked them better than they would like spicy salsa, but next time adults will rule.

Next slice lime into 6 wedges and have them ready to be put on taco plates. I also washed and got cilantro ready to be placed on the side. Avocado also needs to be washed and sliced for adding to the tacos based on everybody’s taste preferences. My daughter loves avocadoes, but my son does not, so I didn’t put avocadoes on the tacos by default.

Tortillas have to be warmed up right before serving, when meat is finishing cooking. You can do that in the microwave with damp paper towel between them or warm them up in the oven for a few minutes. Some people warm individual tortillas on the frying pan. I would choose the oven if I had time.

Once all the separate ingredients are ready, it’s time to arrange the tacos. Take a tortilla in your hand and bend it slightly. Start by putting lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, meat, cheddar cheese, and a small teaspoon of sour cream on top. I made two for everybody and it was plenty. After placing tacos side by side on the plate, add cilantro, lime wedge, and avocado on the side.

Serve as soon as possible and enjoy this almost guilt-free fresh summer treat!