gluten free by nature — casein, soy and entirely almost sugar free…

Throughout summer and early fall, we have taco bar at our house a few times a month. Everyone loves it because the ingredients are put out,  and we all get to pick and choose our toppings. In the end, everyone is happy. It’s great for a Friday night dinner when it’s too much to prepare an elaborate spread. From a seasonal perspective, I think this may be one of the last taco bars of the year, because tomato, corn and pepper seasons are coming to a close. Besides being delicious, I love this dish for the main reason that every color of the nutritional rainbow is represented – so it’s a home run. You can make these tacos with chicken, ground beef, ground buffalo or ground turkey. If you don’t want meat as your filler, you can always make this a vegetarian meal with some rice and beans on the side.

For the meat: 

1 one pound package organic white meat ground turkey
1/2 white onion, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
pinch cayenne

For the (optional) toppings:

1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
1 14 oz can Amy’s Traditional Refried Beans
1 tomato, diced or gluten free salsa of your choice
1 jalapeno, chopped finely
2 avocados, cubed
lettuce
corn chips
rice (Spanish or cilantro lime)
corn (cut from the cob)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. While oven is heating, slice the 3 peppers into strips. Toss in a baking dish or shallow pan with olive oil, garlic and salt & pepper. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
3. While the peppers are roasting, measure out spices and set aside in a glass bowl. Set a skillet over medium heat and add the spice mixture. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until the spices become fragrant. This is called “blooming” the spices. Remove spices from the skillet and set aside in a glass bowl. 
4. Heat 2 tblsp olive oil in the skillet and add the onion. Saute for about 8 minutes. Add the meat. Stir occasionally to ensure all the pieces are broken up. 
5. After about 5 minutes, sprinkle the spice mixture over the meat/onion mixture. Saute  for another 5 minutes.
6. While the meat is simmering, prepare the toppings of your choice into small to medium size bowls in a “buffet style” set-up.

Tags: crowd pleaser, quick and easy dinner, taco bar

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 8pm and is filed under dinner, main course. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.