Sometimes I get tired of cooking elaborate meals. Especially because I spend my entire day cooking at work, only to have to come home to cook again. When these days occur, and I do not feel like getting a fast food option, I cook semi-homemade meals. They are quick, convenient, still taste yummy and can also be healthy. When I cook semi-homemade, I try to add elements that I have to make from "scratch" to make it seem more "home-like". (In this instance I did guacamole and a fruit juice)
Since my days have been really busy lately, not only have I not had time to blog, but I have not had that much time to devote to cooking either. Hence the blog will have its moments of semi-homemade food. So don't judge, just cause I like to cook, does not mean I like to cook ALL the time :) (i.e my career and home). However, thank God for a hubby who can cook and picks up the slack when I have these moments.
Ingredients
1 onion (cut in half. Use 1/2 for taco filling, 1/2 for guacamole)
1 green pepper
1 can of kidney beans (washed and drained)
1/2 pack of taco seasoning mix
1 pack of flour tortillas (or you can make your own if you have time)
1 bottle of salsa (your favorite kind)
2 tomatoes
2 avocados
2 limes. (use 1/2 for guacamole and the rest for juice)
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 fresh pineapple
2 cloves garlic diced (you can use depending on your like or dislike of garlic)
oil
salt to taste (I used this only in the guacamole, the taco seasoning has MORE than enough salt)
pepper to taste
sugar to taste
Method:
1. Gather you ingredients like the picture below. To save time I gather all my ingredients and dice or cut them and place them together. In the industry its call mise en place or everything in its place. This makes it easy to just grab things and add to the pot/dish instead of going back to the cutting board each time.
2. To a saute pan, add a little vegetable oil and heat. Then add the onions, pepper and garlic. Saute until soft, but not browned. Add the red beans and HALF the packet of taco seasoning. Continue to cook until beans are heated through and flavors are meshed together. You can set this aside while you work on the guacamole.
3. This is the fun part cause I have a Vita-Mix (which is a really top notch blender. We use this in the industry as well.) I make my guacamole using this. Of course you don't want to pulse it till its terribly smooth, I like mine kinda chunky. So in the blender/food processor, place avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, salt, lime juice and onion. See pic below for what it looked like before making. Taste and adjust salt before putting in serving bowl. (If you are doing this by hand, you would need to cut ingredients smaller and mash the avocados by hand).
4. I did not take any pics of this, but making the juice was very simple. I placed some water, the pineapple which I cut into chunks and the remainder of limes which I peeled and cut in half. I blended it and then added sugar. I only had to add 2 tbsp of sugar because the pineapple was already sweet.
5. The next step is getting ready to assemble your tacos to get ready to EAT!. Firstly I take the tortilla shells and heat them up in a skillet (without any oil). This makes them a little more pliable (and it would stay in the way I want them).
6. Then I assemble them like the pictures shown below. First I place salsa on the heated tortilla, add the filling on top, add some cheese, and then wrap them. I continue this until completing my dish and then sprinkle it with chopped cilantro.
I hope you enjoy my semi-homemade meal :)
No comments:
Post a Comment