Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Honky Tacos, Gourmet Style

I think I'm allowed to call them "Honky Tacos" - even though "honky" is a racial slur for white people - because I'm white. Is that okay? I apologize in advance if I offend anyone with the name. The name does comes with a story...

My sister-in-law {a.k.a my husband's sister; a.k.a. "Aunt Beautiful" to my kids} is married to a man who is half-Mexican, half-Irish. Dad is 100% Mexican; Mom is 100% Irish. When my sister-in-law first started dating Paul she wanted to cook him some Mexican food as she knew this was something he liked. What she made was nothing like he had ever tasted.

Ground beef slathered with barbeque sauce, topped with sour cream, iceberg lettuce, and tomatoes. {What?! That's how she had it growing up.} Thus, Paul dubbed them "Honky Tacos". {He's 50% white so he's got a right... right?!}.

Well, my husband introduced me to these "tacos" when we first dated and I was surprised... they actually tasted kind of good. But they definitely needed some work.

Over the years we have made different renditions of these tacos but recently I think we nailed it.

First, have you ever tried these {new?} tortillas?


I found them in Vons this week and they are incredible. Just wheat flour {not "whole" wheat - only bummer}, water, canola oil, salt, and sugar. {No sugar listed in Nutrition Info but also no fiber.} You heat them for 30 sec per side and viola - the best {white} tortillas on earth.


Okay, to the tacos...

1) Saute extra lean ground turkey in saute pan until almost no pink is seen.
2) Add barbeque sauce {find lowest in sugar and salt} until lightly coated. {Keep any water in pan to minimize the amount of bbq sauce used.}
3) In the meantime, saute up a huge amount of organic spinach. The more the better.
4) Slice up some heirloom tomatoes.
5) Cook tortillas.
6) Assemble taco: Tortilla, {optional: non-fat plain yogurt in place on sour cream}, ground turkey, spinach {pile it!} and tomatoes. Wrap tortilla. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Savor. Yum.


I'm not saying this is to replace the traditional taco with all those traditional spices and flavors, but this is pretty darn good.

Try it and let me know what you think.


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