Have you been using Grocery IQ to scan every item in your pantry yet?! They should have added a warning label to that app…ADDICTING!!
OK…on to FOOD! Despite spacing these kitchen posts out a bit, I have been cooking meals every night! I have just been so busy that I have been photographing & then focusing on hitting some important deadlines for other projects that I have going on. :) Oh, and chasing a toddler. Who only naps an hour a day. eek! But I will have a whole week’s worth of meals for you by the time we are done. Along with at least one tip or trick besides the recipe in each part of this series.
This is one of my FAVORITE meals. It’s so fresh & lean. & there is so much YUM packed into this…I cannot even tell you. Especially if you are a lover of healthy Mexican food & completely addicted to avocados…like yours truly. ;) I have to take all my dinner images using the available light…so I do not love this food photography. My kitchen is so dark at dinnertime. But not during breakfast…& I think I prefer light in the morning…or I might never wake up. Alas…meal #1!
Carne Asada Tacos with Avocado Pico de Gallo
Found in Cooking Light HERE.
Yield: 4 servings (2 tacos/serving…says cooking light–we eat three each & caroline gets the rest!)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 medium)
- 1 (1-pound) skirt steak, trimmed (I use sirlion steaks)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper ( I only had red pepper flakes, so I used those)
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup diced seeded plum tomato
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro (we do not eat cilantro in this house)
- 1 tablespoon diced seeded jalapeño pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3/4 cup diced avocado (about 1 medium…but I used three…we love avocados!)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 corn tortillas
- Lime wedges (optional)
Preparation
- Combine 1/4 cup juice and steak in a shallow dish. Sprinkle cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and red pepper over both sides of steak. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 3 hours.
- Heat grill pan over high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand at least 10 minutes. Cut steak into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Combine tomato and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl. Gently stir in avocado and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
- Heat tortillas over gas flame 15 seconds on each side or until charred on edges. Divide steak evenly among tortillas. Top with pico de gallo. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.
TIPS FOR EASY CLEAN UP
I love cooking, but I hate cleaning up. I just can’t sit down & enjoy a meal if I have a mess of a kitchen behind me. I try VERY hard to clean up while the food cooks so I have a clean kitchen by dinner time. Here’s how:
- THE PAPER TOWEL. Now i know this is not the most green thing to do, but somehow having one square that designates “trash” on my counter helps all the garbage to go in one place as I cook. Then all I have to do it lift my trash & carry it to the garbage can & it is GONE. In one motion.
- THE CUTTING BOARD. Since this is usually the thing that I am done with first, all dirty dishes go on here as they begin to pile up. Then The whole thing gets lifted to the sink for washing & the counter tops are pretty much clear.
mmMMMmmm. I hope you try this easy meal. It is so good! Are you enjoying this series?
Next up: some fun little ranch burger sliders & a few tips on big batch cooking + freezing…
