Southwestern Soft Tacos
I call this recipe South-western Soft Tacos. I've been making it for years. It's very healthy by my standards of healthy eating. The thing that makes this recipe, for me, is the tortilla I use and the quality of the salsa I make. I use a ready-to-cook tortilla rather than one you just warm up. I've listed a few brands below. I recommend a chunky salsa for this dish rather than a smooth, liquified one. The hard part of sharing this recipe is I don't measure. I combine ingredients according to taste.
The recipe is a guideline, so experiment to get the right balance for your palate. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be prepared in advance and used as needed over a couple days. The avocados start to look peckish after a couple of days. If you want to tote tacos to lunch at work, cook the tortilla, spread the sour cream / yogurt and roll it up then place it before packing it. I fold it in half first, not pressing the fold flat, then roll starting at the fold. Spoon your ingredients into a small container except for the cheeses. Put the cheeses together in a separate container.
I didn't use garbanzos in the image taken of my last taco prep, but they are excellent as an addition to the rest of the stuff in the tortilla. I'm a healthy eater and three tacos does it for me. If I have the larger size tortillas (rather than the six-inch size), then I make only two.
Set dainty aside when you eat these as grace and poise are chucked out the window when you tuck in to these tacos.
Check out this wonderful variation on the same theme by lensmaster, Merrci: White Bean and Spinach Soft Tacos. I discuss tacos further on Jaquo.
Ready To Cook Tortillas
La Abuela [No link available. Found at my local Walmart.]
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Image courtesy of the lens author.
Southwestern Soft Tacos
Ingredients
- Salsa:
- 5 tomatoes, diced (use a combination of Roma tomatoes and whatever else I can find)
- 1 med onion, diced (I prefer the white ones with the brown skin)
- Cilantro, chopped (I use leaves and stems)
- 1 -3 Peppers, chopped (I use at least one jalapeno and combine with a few other chopped hot pepper types and bell pepper)
- 2 -4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
- Avocado, diced (optional, also squeeze lemon on the avocado before mixing it in with the other ingredients)
- Cumin
- Salt
- Pepper
- Fresh Squeezed Lemon
- Filling:
- 1 Can of Black beans (or 1.5 cups of home cooked black beans)
- 1 Can of Garbanzo Beans (optional)
- 1 Can of sweet corn
- 1 Tub of sour cream or Greek yogurt
- Fresh made salsa
- 1 pkg of tortillas
- 1 pkg of shredded cheese of your choosing or 2 cups of cheese you've shredded yourself. I recommend a Fiesta or Mexican blend cheese.
- 1 pkg of feta (optional)
- 1 pkg of sharp cheddar.
- 1 pkg of shredded lettuce or a couple cups if you shred it yourself.
Instructions
- Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl and set aside or refrigerate. I squeeze a bit more lemon juice over the whole shebang then stir it up before I set it aside.
- Combine the beans, garbanzos and corn with the salsa or keep them separate.
- Heat the griddle for the tortilla. Ready-to-cook tortillas take a few seconds longer to cook but are worth it.
- Place the heated tortilla in the center of your work area.
- Spread sour cream or yogurt down the center of the tortilla.
- Spoon the desired amount of corn, garbanzos and beans over the yogurt. The yogurt helps keep the beans in the taco.
- Top with shredded lettuce if you like.
- Spoon the salsa mixture over the top of this.
- Top with cheese.
© 2014 Tanya Jones