It’s time for Taco
Tuesday Thursday!
Yeah, I know, Taco Thursday doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but here we are. And I don’t know about you, but I’m good with tacos any day of the week. How about you?
My favorite tacos are al pastor. They’re made from pork that’s been marinated in spices, cooked on a vertical spit, with pineapple and onion on top of the spit. It’s the pineapple that does it for me, I think, because that sweet and spicy combo is always a hit with my taste buds. In a pinch, a good old fashioned ground beef or grilled chicken taco is a win as well.
Tacos, for the most part, are a super simple meal that’s easy to prepare and generally is not too expensive. So, I tend to make them often. The trouble began when my older daughter went fully vegan. Since I didn’t want to keep feeding her Beyond Beef tacos, I went on the hunt for vegan taco recipes that were both easy and delicious.
Our favorite by far are these crispy vegan potato tacos with jalapeño cilantro sauce. Whenever I make these, I make two simple alterations to the recipe. First, I double it because the leftovers make a great breakfast hash or taco. Second, I add in half a poblano pepper or, if they’re in season and I can find them, a Hatch chile. Poblanos are my favorite pepper and they add a great flavor to the tacos. The jalapeño cilantro sauce is fantastic as well and is great for dipping fries into.
Another great vegan taco recipe are these simple black bean tacos with vegan lime crema. Since I am not a fan of beans of any variety, these are something I make for my kids only. But it’s easy enough to pan fry a chicken breast on the side for myself, so it all works out in the end.
Lastly, these beer battered Kung Pao cauliflower tacos aren’t exactly easy, but man are they ever worth it. I’ve only made them a handful of times, but they are so good and crispy! I had a hard time keeping the kids from snacking on the cauliflower while I got it all fried.
A shout out to Navajo tacos/fry bread tacos (they come by many names, depending on where you are). These start with a piece of fry bread – aka a piece of fried dough – and are piled high with all your usual taco toppings. I recently had one of these in a little hole in the wall restaurant in Gallup, NM and it was beyond delicious. The green chile sauce it was topped with only made it better. And I’ll forgive the son of the owners who told me it’s not really a taco if it doesn’t have beans on it (he was teasing me) because he gave us fantastic service.
Ever wonder what kind of taco fits your foodie personality? Yes? Then you’re in luck because there’s a quiz for that (no, really!) and you can find it here. And while I didn’t get the al pastor I’d been hoping for, I’m okay with what I did get.
What about you? What kind of tacos do you like? Which taco fits your personality best?
Since I’m about to embark on another road trip in a couple of weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of internet searching on things to keep my friend and myself from getting bored on the drive. I’m still relatively new to this road tripping thing, so I definitely needed a bit of inspiration. Especially since, when we did this when I was a kid, I’d sit in the back with my cassette Walkman (dating myself here) and a book. But you can’t really do that when you’re the one driving.
We all probably remember what we wanted to be when we grew up. Some of us wanted to be doctors or astronauts or cowboys even. Me, I wanted to be a teacher. Then, I got older and was hit with the realization that I a) did not explain things well and b) did not have the patience to teach.
And I know, this sounds like a leadup to a Jeff Foxworthy bit, but sadly, I’m not quite that amusing.
As an avid reader, I tend to pick up weird facts here and there through the books I’m consuming. The strange thing is, I tend to pick up more factoids from fiction than I do from nonfiction.
In anticipation of the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale beginning next week, I’ve been doing a rewatch of the first five seasons. Thankfully, I had remembered a lot of the major plot points, but I was surprised at how many of the smaller, but still important, things I had forgotten about.
