Taco Tuesday: Citrus-marinated grilled chicken tacos with simple guacamole

In the fall, Colleen had a school project about family traditions. One of the questions she had to answer was "if you could create a new tradition for your family, what would it be?" After a short moment's thought, she smiled and announced..."Taco Tuesday".

I have to admit, some weeks I just have no more inspiration for dinner ideas. Luckily, Tuesdays are figured out. Tacos! Or, some variation that includes nachos...her real goal with this tradition. I guess Nacho Tuesday didn't sound as catchy. 

We've started branching out from the traditional beef tacos. I've used rotisserie chicken from the grocery for chicken tacos. One week I made enchiladas. (See previous post for recipe).

This week I had some chicken breasts in the fridge that I wanted to use. On top of that, the weather is warming up and the days are getting longer, so I feel the need to fire up the grill. Here was my "a-ha" moment...I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Citrus-marinated grilled chicken breasts: tacos tonight and chicken for lunch sandwiches/salads for the week. Even better, I have a ton of limes on hand, so I juiced two for the marinade. And used another one for the accompanying guacamole. Love it when a dish comes together like this!

Citrus-Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts

Note: I let the chicken marinade over night and had great results... Tender, juicy, tasty chicken.

Another note: I added the cumin on a whim to try and add a little heat and make the chicken more taco-appropriate. It could have used more. Don't know if 1 Tbs would be too much, but will try that next time).

Directions: In a container large enough to hold your meat, combine the following ingredients. Close the lid (be sure it seals!) and shake. Then add your chicken breasts -- or shrimp would probably taste good -- and re-seal. Shake again to coat the meat. Marinade in fridge several hours or overnight. Grill to taste.

Ingredients:
Juice of 2 limes
Splash (approx 1/4 cup) orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1-2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbs white wine or champagne vinegar (I happen to have the champagne vinegar)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper

Simple Guacamole

Mash 2 or 3 avocados with a fork. Add juice from 1/2 lime, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1/2 jalapeño (diced, seeds and ribs optional based on heat preference), 1 handful cilantro (minced), salt to taste. Stir together and serve with tacos, nachos, enchiladas, sandwiches, salads, or whatever!

Salsa, salsa, salsa

Back in my college days we used to crowd around a tv in the common room of our dorm to enjoy weekly episodes of Seinfeld.

Yes, this was long ago. Before the time of a tv in every room. Before the time of On Demand, Netflix and streaming. We are talking the early days of email and listserves. We thought our phone was "smart" if it had caller id. But, I digress....

The point here is that those Thursday evenings in the common room were a sacred, social event. Watching shows such as Seinfeld as a group, we developed our own language -- much as today's college students' language is influenced by texting and tweeting, ours was colored by "Seinfeld-isms." No soup for you! It's really quite refreshing. Vandelay Industries. The list goes on, but one of my favorites is "salsa, salsa, salsa." Saying this one little phrase just makes my mouth happy. So does one bite of this roasted tomato and black bean salsa.

Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Salsa
This is a forgiving recipe.  Love bell peppers? Chop one up and throw it in there! Don't like beans? Leave them out. Want a little extra heat? Add a splash or two or two of hot sauce (I have at least three different types in my fridge at all times) or more diced jalapeño. If you are in the mood for sweet crunch, add some corn. I'm looking forward to the summer, when we can roast up an ear of fresh corn on the grill and add that into the mix.

1 can diced, fire roasted tomatoes, drained
1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 or 4 plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1 jalepeno, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice from 1/2 lime
1 tsp. ground cumin
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

If you don't want soupy salsa, take the time to pour your canned tomatoes into a mesh sieve to drain excess liquid. Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

Enchiladas Rojas

We like enchiladas at our house and eat them quite often -- whether at home or at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Esperanza in Lindenwold, NJ. If you like real Mexican food, you've got to try this place. Check out their website here. When they first opened, the dining area was about 1/3 of the current size and reminded me of a place you'd find in Tiajuana. A couple of years back they remodeled and expanded which greatly alleviates the wait for seating on Friday and Saturday evenings. It's still the same great food, though the new space doesn't have quite the same intimate feel.

At home, I admit that I often cheat when it comes to making this versatile dish. When I'm in a rush, I'll used canned sauce. And, I've found that shredding a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket makes a great filling. Perhaps my biggest shortcut, though, and it's a step many fine cooks insist on, is to skip frying the tortillas before filling. I just can't bring myself to dirty yet another pan. I suppose if I was preparing a meal for discerning guests (and, more importantly, if I had a babysitter on hand to keep the kids out of my hair) I might fry the tortillas.

One step I don't skip -- and it's a somewhat messy process -- is to coat the tortillas with enchilada sauce before filling. It really seems to make a difference in the finished product.

As noted earlier, I sometimes use canned enchilada sauce. It's ok, but certainly not as good as homemade. I would love the opportunity to experiment more with making my own enchilada sauce, but for now I've found a recipe by Emeril that is easy and tastes pretty good. His recipe is on the Food Network website. To add some more depth, I added a little bit of bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon. And to balance the bitterness of the canned tomato paste, I used a trick from my tomato sauce recipe (see post) and added about a teaspoon of sugar. Next time around I might try adding a chili pepper from my garden, too.

Last night I used shredded chicken and black beans, mixed with about 1/2 cup of Emeril's enchilada sauce, plus some shredded mexican-style cheese for the filling. Also tasty is browned ground beef with or without beans. Both versions are also good with some sauteed onions and peppers added to the mix. Top the rolled enchiladas with remaining sauce and more cheese. Bake covered with foil for 20 minutes at 375 deg., remove foil and bake another 5 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, radishes, or whatever condiments you like.