Making tacos part 7: Vegetarian Taco Oven Bake

I made this fantastic vegetarian taco dish a while ago and the children both loved it (and so did the husband and I), so I've decided to add it to my blog. You can serve it with guacamole and a Mexican salad, or with different salsas. I think a tomato salsa or Picco de Gallo would go very well with it, too. The original recipe can be found in the 'Handboek voor ecologische voeding', Velt, one of my favourite cookbooks. I changed the quantities so you can use a full box of taco shells instead of just 8.

Vegetarian Taco Oven Bake 

Serves 4

• A box of Taco Shells (12 shells)
• 6 large potatoes
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 large onion (or 2 medium-sized ones)
• 1,5 dl cream
• 100 g grated Emmental cheese
• 1 tsp. Taco Seasoning
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Can be served with:

• Guacamole
• Tomato Salsa
• Picco de Gallo
• Sweetcorn & red bell pepper salsa
• (Mexican) salad

 - Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their jackets. Once cooked, put them aside to cool down. Once they have cooled down enough, you can peel them and slice them (slices should be approx. 0,5 cms thick). It's a bit of a messy job, but they taste fantastic this way. Sprinkle some salt on top of the slices.

- Chop the bell peppers into small squares. Put them in a pot and add some water until they are covered, then cook for 5 mins. (If your children are still very small, you might want to cook them for a bit longer, until they are soft.)

- Slice the onions so you get onion rings. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the onion rings and the taco seasoning. Fry the onions until they are glazed.

- Depending on the size of your oven dishes, you can make do with one very large oven dish, or use 2. I used 2, so I poured approx. 1 dl of cream into 1 oven dish, and 0,5 dl in the smaller one.

- Then put first potato slices, then onion rings and then bell peppers into each taco shell and put them in the oven dishes. Cover everything with grated cheese and put the dishes in the oven at 220°C (or 200°C for a fan-assisted oven) for15 mins.


 

Making Tacos Part 6: Chicken Tacos

This is another recipe with hard taco shells. Again, you can use other meat or even fish, or make vegetarian tacos. Also, if you have a little one who still has trouble with the hard taco shells, you can replace them with a soft corn tortilla. I simply buy a grilled chicken at the market to make these tacos, but you could obviously also fry or grill the chicken yourself.

Chicken Tacos

Serves 4

• 1 box of taco shells (12 taco shells)
• 1 small grilled chicken
• the juice of 1 lime, freshly squeezed
• 1 or 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
• a few handfuls of lettuce
• 1 or more salsas: guacamole, tomato salsa, sweetcorn & bell pepper salsa, ...
• sour cream

- Mix the warm grilled chicken meat with 1 or 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning (I use 2, but if you're not used to spicy food, you might prefer to use only 1. If you like very hot food, you could try 3 ;-)). Add the lime juice and stir well with a fork.

- Heat the taco shells in the oven according to the instructions on the box.

- Fill each shell with approx. 2 spoonfuls of spicy chicken, some lettuce and a spoonful of each salsa and the sour cream. Enjoy!

Making taco's part 5: Tacos with minced meat

After making the taco seasoning and one or several salsas, it's time to make tacos! The first recipe is for tacos with minced meat, but I'll also post one for tacos with chicken. Obviously you can use other meat or even fish, or make vegetarian tacos.

Tacos with minced meat (veal)

Serves 4

• 1 box of taco shells (12 taco shells)
• 250 g minced veal
• 1 or 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
• a few handfuls of lettuce
• 1 or more salsas: guacamole, tomato salsa, sweetcorn & bell pepper salsa, ...

- Mix the minced meat with 1 or 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning (I use 2, but if you're not used to spicy food, you might prefer to use only 1. If you like very hot food, you could try 3 ;-)). Then fry the meat in a pan until brown.

- Heat the taco shells in the oven according to the instructions on the box.

- Fill each shell with approx. 2 spoonfuls of minced meat, some lettuce and a spoonful of each salsa. Enjoy!

Making Tacos part 1: Taco Seasoning

I thought I'd put something a bit more 'elaborate' on my blog for a change. But to keep it simple, I'll keep the different 'steps' for this recipe separate. I've mentioned before that we all like Tex Mex food, see also my recipe for quesadillas. Most children also like taco shells, so I've started to make tacos every now and again.

Instead of buying all the salsas and the seasoning, I make them all from scratch so I really know what's in them. The only thing I buy ready made at the supermarket are the taco shells.

Taco Seasoning (spicy!)

Approx. 30 grams of taco seasoning

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried fried onions (or onion powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon pili-pili (crushed red pepper flakes)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, dried onions or onion powder, pili-pili flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.