Taco Party!

  If you live in a mixed household (aka meat eaters & non), might I suggest always keeping on hand taco fixin's?  Tacos are just about the easiest thing in the world to whip up, especially on a weeknight when you don't feel like slaving over a stove/oven for hours on end.  My husband has told me on several occasions that there's nothing that can't be stuffed into a taco shell-he's even made turkey leftovers into tacos.

  Last night, which just so happened to also be Superbowl Sunday, we had a taco fiesta.  I boiled an entire chicken with some herbs and veggies that I had on hand (carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and parsley) for an hour (put the veggies in the pot, place the chicken on top of the veggies, fill the pot with enough water to just cover the chicken, bring to a boil & reduce to a simmer...simmer with the lid cracked slightly to prevent boil over).  I then removed the chicken from the water & shredded it.  I tossed it with spices and the chicken was good to go. 

  I grilled up some peppers and onions on my stove-top grill, until they were caramelized and tender as well.  And for my black bean tacos, I opened a can of organic black beans, drained them & tossed them with the same spices as the chicken.  I then heated them up in the microwave for about 2 mins.

  For the fixins, I sliced up an avocado, pulled out the sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, tomato salsa, and hot sauce.  I also like to keep corn tortillas and 10" flour tortillas on hand (just in case we don't feel like making a creative meal), so I pulled those out and heated them up too.

  What's great about taco night is the fact that you can customize your own tacos, filling the shells with only the ingredients you like.  My husband and his friend had chicken tacos, and I was satisfied with black bean, avocado & pepper tacos.

  Like I said before, don't limit yourself to traditional fillings either.  We've done turkey tacos with stuffing & cranberry sauce.  Breakfast tacos are in regular rotation for dinner.  Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy (or haven't gone grocery shopping in ages), I'll just do cheese tacos with veggies and hot sauce.  The sky is really the limit with these.

Avocado, black bean & pepper tacos-ole!