They happened by accident, these taco bites. We’d run out of taco shells, but not of taco beef. My husband, the Hungry Papa, grabbed tortilla chips. Turned out we’d gotten the kind shaped as a scoop. He carefully spooned beef, beans and fixings into the mini shell and the fiesta-ready Taco Bite was born.
Just as easily as the Taco Bite was created it can be made. I encourage you to come up with your own version.
Mine? Easy. Here’s how it goes:
Skip the packaged kind and make your own homemade taco seasoning. (It takes all of 4 spices and 2 minutes.)
Sautee onions in a light drizzle of canola oil and ½ can of tomato paste. Add your taco seasoning and 1 pound of all natural, humanely raised, organic ground beef. (Not trying to hit you over the head with labels, but ground beef is one of those ingredients for which you want to go out of your way to get the highest quality.) If your beef’s got good fat content, which is preferable for taco night, it will give off a good amount of moisture. If it’s super lean, you may want to add a splash of water or broth. You don’t want your beef to be dry.
Once the beef is cooked through, add a drained and rinsed can of black beans. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes to heat the beans through and bring all of the flavors together.
Taco beef done!
Shred some lettuce. Sometimes I skip the lettuce and substitute a quick Broccoli Slaw with Cilantro Yogurt Dressing. (It’s perfect on beef and been tacos!)
Cube an avocado.
Chop some seeded tomato and toss with finely diced red onion, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Shred some great, super sharp cheddar cheese and grab the sour cream.
Now, assemble: Spoon some beef and bean mixture into the bottom of your scoop-shaped tortilla chip and top with the rest of the goodies. Place on a platter and let the good times roll!
These make a great party app and would be especially cute at a kid’s birthday party, don’t you think? They also just make dinnertime special. Like a fiesta, even.
To get more Momtastic recipes from Stacie Billis, click here.
You can also find Stacie on her site, One Hungry Mama, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
