my inspiration
My boys always ask for “Taco Tuesday.” Honestly, I think it’s more about how fun it sounds rolling off the tongue than the tacos themselves. But nonetheless, my family does like tacos and Taco Tuesday happens any night in our house. This is one of the first meals that I found super simple to adapt to my family’s diverse diets, and the first meal I want to share with you. It’s delicious, easy, and one dinner that everyone at your table can enjoy together.
what you need
taco filling:
- 1 or 2 packages of chicken tenderloins or breasts (depending on size of group)
- 1 package of plant-based chicken*
- 2 tbsp of butter*
- couple swirls of oil
- 2 packages of your favorite taco seasoning*
- 4 colorful bell peppers (orange, red, yellow)
- 1 large sweet onion
toppings:
- anything your family loves!
- we love shredded lettuce and cheese, sour cream, avocado slices, fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, and sometimes even roasted corn (the frozen works fine)*
holding it together:
- Crunchy taco shells
- Soft corn and/or flour tortillas
*tips
- My absolute favorite plant-based chicken is Daring’s plain chicken pieces. It serves well as a chicken base and takes on any flavor you give it. IMPORTANT – if you’re adapting for a gluten free diet as well, make sure to read ingredients on plant-based proteins. A lot of them contain wheat. Most all pant-based proteins I use will be gluten free.
- I have grown to love Earth’s Best plant-based butter. It comes in variations and is sold in sticks or a tub. A few years ago I switched our entire household over to that and nobody even noticed. Tastes like butter and is an easy way to cut down on having to use different butters for different family members.
- I like to use Simply Organic fajita seasoning packet.
- My favorite dairy-free cheese for Mexican dishes is Daiya Mexican shreds.
let’s adapt
This taco dinner is based on a fajita. The filling is a wonderful and sweet mixture of caramelized onions, peppers, and perfectly seasoned chicken. Start prepping the chicken. For your real chicken, cut it into small bite-size pieces and season generously with salt and pepper. Set aside. If you use Daring’s plain plant-based chicken pieces, they already come in the perfect size. Defrost on the counter for a few hours before using. Generously salt and pepper them as well and set aside. Next (or even a few hours earlier) slice up your onion and peppers. After they are sliced, you can toss them all together on your cutting board.
Let’s start cooking! For most of my meals I always have two sauté pans side by side on the stove. I’m making the same meal with mostly the same ingredients, but this allows me to avoid cross contamination with dairy, gluten or meat. Add about a tbsp of oil to each pan and add your chicken and sauté. For the real chicken it’s important to make sure the pieces are cooked through. While the plant-based chicken doesn’t have the same food-handling requirements, I still like to treat it like the real thing. Most of these products can be seared and caramelized as well and those methods really enhance the products. When both pans of chicken are done, remove the chicken and place on plates.
Add another tbsp of oil and some more butter to pans. I find that the mixture caramelizes better with an oil/butter combo. Divide your peppers and onion mixture between the pans. Since I am only cooking the vegan version for two people, I use less of the mixture in that pan. You can divide accordingly. Sprinkle a pinch of salt in the mixture as well as this will help the onions sweat and release their liquid. Once the veggies are soft and have almost reached caramelization, add the chicken back in each pan. Continue to sauté and mix everything together. Make sure to scrape all the bits from the bottom of pan.
Sprinkle your taco seasoning over everything. Stir and coat to your liking. At this point, the mixture will smell wonderful and resemble that hot, cast-iron dish of fajitas they serve you in a restaurant. This means dinner is ready!
my table
This is the fun step and the part that brings everyone together. Depending on the size of your family, you can set the tacos and toppings on your kitchen table or can use an island or counter as well. I like to pre stuff crunchy corn shells and soft flour shells. The crunchy ones work well for a gluten free diet. I arrange bowls of toppings around them and always serve a side of rice as my family loves rice. I make Mexican or cilantro lime, but sometimes we just enjoy brown rice with some butter and parsley so it’s really what your family enjoys. Sometimes my husband even forgoes the taco shells and builds a protein bowl on top of some rice instead. Main thing is we can all enjoy one meal together. If adapted according to my steps, this can serve someone with a vegan and/or gluten-free diet.
Provecho! Enjoy!