Good Thyme Kitchen

You are here: Home / Archives for tacos

tacos

Butter Lettuce Wrapped Fish Tacos with Pineapple Salsa and Lime Crema

by 1 Comment

Tacos tacos tacos….well, we’re at it again with our latest taco creation and it’s the shiz.  Our last post we brought you the pineapple salsa.  Sound familiar? If you haven’t had the chance to make it yet because you couldn’t find the right dish to pile it on, today we are bringing you that dish.  Butter lettuce wrapped fish tacos with the pineapple salsa.  Oh yeah baby, we aren’t messing around with this one!

These tacos stemmed from a trip to the grocery store, I was in the checkout line and what did I see on the end-cap just screaming my name? Tajin seasoning, the same stuff that is poured on anything and everything in Mexico.  Well duh, kind of a no brainer.  Clearly I had to pick up a bottle and get to work on creating a fun recipe. So thank you Tajin chile lime seasoning for being the brainchild behind these tacos.

So my pants were feeing a little extra tight so I thought it was probably best to skip the tortillas and serve these up in butter lettuce cups. I actually really didn’t miss the tortillas and side note…how pretty do these cute little lettuce cups look?  If you are feeling the tortillas instead of the lettuce then go ahead and sub in the tortillas.  Or you can be like me and convince yourself that since you skipped the tortillas then you should probably reward yourself with ice cream.  Yep, I did that …it happens way too often too. Probably the reason why my pants are always tight!  Note to self…for not tight pants maybe next time skip the tortillas and the ice cream.  Realistically it probably won’t happen but it’s worth a try. Right?

These tacos are so full of flavor, the pineapple salsa mixed with the chile lime flavor of the tajin seasoning is kickin.  I love the simplicity of the white fish paired with the bold flavors of the pineapple, chile and jalapeño and finished with a drizzle of lime crema to balance everything out.  Pure perfection, all wrapped up in a cute butter lettuce taco.  Yum!

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
Butter Lettuce Wrapped Fish Tacos with Pineapple Salsa and Lime Crema
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
For the Fish:
  • 1 lb white fish like rockfish, mahi mahi, halibut, etc
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • 2 tsp Tajin seasoning - can find in most grocery stores in the hispanic section
  • ¼ tsp ground pepper
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated and cleaned
For the Pineapple Salsa:
  • 1½ C fresh pineapple, chopped
  • 1 medium avocado, chopped
  • ¼ C red onion, sliced thin and chopped
  • ½ jalapeno, seeded and choppped
  • ¼ C cilantro, chopped
  • juice of 2 limes
  • pinch of kosher salt to taste
For the Lime Crema:
  • ½ C 0% plain greek yogurt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • kosher salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Cut fish against the grain into 2 inch strips. Add fish to a low bowl with 1 Tbsp olive oil and all remaining fish ingredients except for the butter lettuce. Turn to coat evenly. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes.
  2. While the fish is sitting, fold together all ingredients for the pineapple salsa in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl whisk together ingredients for lime crema and set aside.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the skillet. Add the fish, cooking each side approximately 3 minutes until cooked through.
  5. Lay butter lettuce flat on a plate, top with fish, pineapple salsa and lime crema. Add additional lime juice, cilantro and Tajin seasoning if desired.

Taco Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

by Leave a Comment

We created this salad with the mindset of trying to get our kids to eat more salads.  Soo….how do you accomplish that?  Pile taco ingredients on top!! While you’re at it, throw some veggies in with the taco meat…they won’t even know the difference.  We added chopped red bell peppers to this batch but we have also added zucchini which is equally as good.

Luckily, both Courtney and I both have good eaters in our house.  Although, like any kids; if they had their choice they would eat mac and cheese and chicken nuggets every night!  Since that’s not happening we try to always think of creative ways to get extra veggies into their diet.

Since tacos are always a huge hit, why not make a taco salad? You can either serve this salad deconstructed like the picture below, or we found these cute taco shell bowls which make eating a salad fun…plus the bowls look cute in pictures!

We made a healthy dressing with greek yogurt and salsa and a few other ingredients. If you are a fan of ranch dressing, that would also taste pretty spectacular on the salad too.

The struggle is real when you are trying to make a healthy dinner to please kids and adults.  We don’t always win that battle,  but everyone definitely left the table happy in my house after they ate this taco salad!

Check out some of our other favorite hearty salad recipes below:

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/grilled-flank-steak-arugula-salad/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/tuna-salad-cranberries-dill/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/chopped-chicken-salad-with-lemon-pesto-vinaigrette/


Taco Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • ½ yellow onion, minced
  • ½ red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¾ C chicken broth
  • 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 medium avocado, chopped
  • ½ C sliced black olives
  • 2 C romaine lettuce, chopped
  • ½ C sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 4 corn tortilla salad bowls - can also use regular taco shells or just assemble as a salad
For the Creamy Salsa Dressing:
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • ¾ C 0% Greek yogurt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ C salsa
  • kosher salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and red peppers and sautee for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add ground turkey, use a spatula to break apart the turkey while cooking. Sautee until cooked through.
  2. Add spices, salt and chicken broth, stir and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook down for about 15 minutes.
  3. While turkey is cooking assemble the remaining salad ingredients.
For the Creamy Salsa Dressing:
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.
Assemble the salad together and drizzle with creamy salsa dressing.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

by 2 Comments

Baked chicken taquitos…yes please.  If you are anything like us, you are always looking for a new chicken recipe.  I will also add that it needs to be easy because we both have unbelievably busy schedules and sometimes getting dinner on the table for the family can turn into a major task.  I will say that it really doesn’t have to be considered a task though.  We are here to help make your life easier and that is what this simple and delicious baked chicken taquito recipe is going to do.  Wow.  Those are some powerful taquitos eh?  No really though, these guys are easy peasy to make and the whole family literally freaked out over them so I feel compelled to share.  Hopefully you and or your family will appreciate them as well.  We feel really good about this recipe because these taquitos are not fried in oil.  They are “lightened up” and that is just a win for everyone.

This recipe calls for shredded chicken.  You can either do this part yourself by baking or poaching some chicken breasts or you could even eliminate that part and buy a rotisserie chicken at your local supermarket.  Whatever suits your fancy.

tJust start by sautéing up some onion in a skillet and then when they are soft and translucent, add in the shredded chicken, Greek yogurt, and pepper jack cheese.  Stir until the cheese is melted then add in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay a tortilla out flat.  Scoop the generous spoonful of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla and roll it up.  Continue with this process until you use up all of the filling.  Then spray the tortillas with the olive oil spray and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are a nice golden brown color.

Serve immediately with whatever sauce you like.  Salsa, guacamole, pico de gallo…the options are endless!


5.0 from 1 reviews
Baked Chicken Taquitos
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp good quality olive oil
  • ½ small onion, minced
  • 2 C shredded chicken breast
  • 1 C 0% Greek yogurt
  • 1 C pepper jack cheese, shredded
  • ⅓ C fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
  • S&P
  • 12 small (street taco size) flour tortillas
  • olive oil spray
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. Sautee onions until translucent, about 5 mins. Add shredded chicken, greek yogurt and cheese, stir until cheese is melted. Add chopped cilantro and season with S&P to taste.
  3. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add a large spoonful of filling to the center of a tortilla, shape the filling into a line. Gently roll the tortilla and place on the baking sheet. Continue until all of the filling is gone.
  4. Spray the taquitos with olive oil spray. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
  5. Serve immediately alongside your favorite dipping sauce (salsa, pico de gallo, salsa verde, ranch, etc).

Simple Turkey Tacos

by Leave a Comment

We call these simple turkey tacos simple because well, you guessed it, they are super easy to make.  They also pretty much make their debut just about every Tuesday in our house.  The family really seems to take this “taco Tuesday” thing to heart so why should I take that away from them?  I just can’t.  And, not gonna lie, it makes my weekly menu planning a piece of cake!  The other great news is that these simple turkey tacos are made with very few ingredients.  Always a win in our book!!

If you are a frequent visitor here at GTK, you already know that we love our veggies and we are really good at sneaking them in to lots of our recipes.  Dicing up zucchini and adding it to the turkey taco meat is a perfect example.  If you don’t already do this, give it a try…the kiddos won’t even know it’s in there (unless of course, you have one of those munchkins who sees something green and pushes the plate away).  You will have to get creative if that’s the case but we suggest giving it a try.  Sometimes you will be surprised.

Anyway, just sauté the onion and zucchini for about 5 minutes until they soften.  Add in the garlic and stir for about another minute.

Add in the ground turkey and use a spatula to break it down.  Saute until cooked through.  Add the spices, salt and chicken broth and simmer for about 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.  While the meat is cooking down, you can make the yogurt sauce.  In a small bowl, add the Greek yogurt, lime and salt and stir to combine.

To serve, spoon meat mixture onto tortillas and top with the yogurt lime sauce.  You can pile on your favorite toppings as well if you so desire.  Some family favorites for us are, avocados (duh), salsa or hot sauce, fresh tomatoes, shredded cheese or cotija cheese!  Yum!!  Add these guys to your list this week and you won’t be disappointed!


Simple Turkey Tacos
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • ½ yellow onion, minced
  • 1 zuchinni, chopped
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • ¾ C chicken broth
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced thin
  • ¼ C cilantro, chopped
  • ½ C 0% plain greek yogurt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • kosher salt to taste
  • corn or flour tortillas
  • 1 lime, cut into segments for serving
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and zuchinni and sautee for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add ground turkey, use a spatula to break apart the turkey while cooking. Sautee until cooked through.
  2. Add spices, salt and chicken broth, stir and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook down for about 15 minutes.
  3. In a small bowl add greek yogurt, juice of 1 lime and kosher salt to taste. Mix with a spoon until incorporated.
  4. Assemble taco meat on tortillas, top with jalapenos, clinatro and lime/greek yogurt sauce.
** Top tacos with preferred toppings such as diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese, olives, avocado, salsa, etc.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Street Tacos with Pickled Red Onions and Lime Crema

by Leave a Comment


This post was sponsored by S&W Beans as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in our post are our own.

Without a doubt, these little street tacos are our new taco obsession! Let’s face it, we’ve never met a taco we didn’t like but some are definitely better than others. Filled with sweet potatoes, black beans, sautéed shallots, cotija cheese, cilantro, pickled red onions and topped with lime crema, they make for the perfect bite every time. Every ingredient that goes into these tacos is healthy, protein packed and full of FLAVOR!

We used S&W Brand of organic black beans in the tacos. We love that S&W offers an entire line of organic beans in all different varieties, aside from the organic and classic varieties they also offer low sodium as well. The S&W beans don’t disappoint, the texture is perfect, unlike a lot of other brands of canned beans that we have used that tend to be mushy. Of course the most important part is the taste, which is on point as well! Canned beans are a staple in both of our pantries because really…who has hours on end to soak and cook beans? Not us and probably not you either! It doesn’t get much easier than popping a can open, draining, rinsing and then adding to your favorite recipe…like these street tacos! One other bonus is that beans are an incredible source of fiber and protein. We use beans in a ton of our recipes from soups, to salads, and sometimes even desserts like black bean brownies…yum! In our opinion S&W offers the highest quality of beans, they have been in the biz for over 120 years so they know what they are doing and it shows in the quality of their products. Pick up a few cans for yourself with this special coupon offer ($1 off 2 cans of beans through April).  Who doesn’t love an opportunity to save some dough??
http://swbeans.com/coupons-2/?utm_source=ICReferral&utm_campaign=Spring17&utm_medium=Influencer

So these delicious and unique tacos are a cinch to throw together, the only cooking involved is steaming the sweet potatoes (super easy) and a 3 minute sauté of the shallots….oh and a quick warming of the corn tortillas.  Once the sweet potatoes and shallots are cooked through, add S&W organic black beans (drained and rinsed) cotija cheese, cilantro and lime juice.  Mix everything together and pile a heaping tablespoon onto each corn tortilla. But wait…you can’t forget the toppers!!

The pickled red onions and lime crema take these tacos to the next level.  You can purchase pickled onions at the store or you can save yourself a few bucks and quickly make them at home with just a few ingredients.  Thinly slice a red onion, add to a bowl and pour warm water and red wine vinegar over the top. Stir in a little sugar and season with kosher salt to taste, let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Easy peasy! These pickled onions keep really well in the fridge for a few days so we suggest making extra because they are delicious in a salad or on a sandwich too!!  You won’t regret having extra left over!

Also the lime crema is not allowed to be skipped either.  Greek yogurt, fresh lime juice and salt…that’s it people!  These street tacos will not disappoint, and they are made with ingredients that you can feel good about so eat up!

Check out all of the S&W products on their website at:

http://swbeans.com/

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Street Tacos with Pickled Red Onions and Lime Crema
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: Makes approx 16 street tacos or 8 regular corn tacos
Ingredients
For the Pickled Red Onions:
  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ C warm water
  • ¼ C red wine vinegar
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • kosher salt to taste
For the Lime Crema:
  • ½ C 0% plain greek yogurt
  • juice of 1 lime
  • kosher salt to taste
For the Street Tacos:
  • 2 sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into ½ inch cubes
  • 1 C S&W organic black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 large shallot thinly sliced (1/2 C)
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of 2 limes + 2 limes to garnish (cut into wedges)
  • ½ C chopped cilantro
  • ¼ C cotija cheese, crumbled
  • 16 mini corn tortillas (street taco size) or 8 corn tortillas
  • kosher salt to taste
Instructions
For the Pickled Red Onions:
  1. Place sliced onions in a medium bowl. Pour vinegar and warm water over the onions. Stir in sugar and season with kosher salt to taste. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before using - can be made at least 2 days ahead.
For the Lime Crema:
  1. In a small bowl add greek yogurt and lime juice and mix. Season with kosher salt to taste.
For the Street Tacos:
  1. Place sweet potatoes in stovetop steamer until tender and cooked through - about 5 minutes.
  2. While sweet potatoes are steaming, warm oil in a skillet over medium heat, add sliced shallots and sautee 3 minutes until soft.
  3. In a large bowl add black beans, sweet potatoes, shallots, lime juice, cotija cheese and cilantro and mix together. Place a large spoonful of sweet potato filling on each tortilla and garnish with pickled red onions, lime crema and lime wedges.

 

Fish Tacos with Spicy Cilantro Lime Slaw

by Leave a Comment

Fish + Tacos = Love

We are major taco fanatics over here, and we are not shy to say that these fish tacos give us some serious bragging rights.  They are everything a ligit fish taco should be, perfectly flakey white fish, slightly spicy slaw, fresh squeezed lime juice all stuffed into a warm tortilla.

Let’s taco about it, sorry – couldn’t help it!  If you want to make the slaw ahead of time go for it, it actually gets better if it has some time to let the flavors mesh together.  The heat comes from the jalapeño that’s blended in with the greek yogurt, lime zest and juice.  Mix that with thinly sliced cabbage and cilantro and you’ve got slaw! Purple cabbage brightens up the colors of the taco, but we only had green cabbage on hand when we were making this batch. Whatever type of cabbage you use, you can’t go wrong.

img_6863

If you can get your hands on fresh rockfish, grab it, otherwise cod, snapper, mahi mahi or another type of white, mild fish is perfect. Make sure to remove any bones before you start working with the fish.  Cut the fish up into 2 inch strips, dip in egg whites and run it through the seasoned flour.  Heat a little butter/oil in a large skillet and cook the fish for about 2 minutes per side.  You can work in batches until all of the fish is cooked.

img_6873

Time to assemble the grand prize.  We prefer corn tortillas but use whatever type of tortilla you like.  Sometimes we will even skip the tortilla and make a fish taco bowl instead for a lighter option.  If you’re going the tortilla route (which is the best route) pile your fish on the tortilla, top with the spicy cilantro lime slaw and garnish with your favorite extras like cotija cheese, avocado, more fresh cilantro and an extra squeeze of lime juice.  Time to sit back and enjoy your tacos, just a hint – a cold cerveza will most definitely add to the awesomeness of these tacos!

img_6907

Fish Tacos with Spicy Cilantro Lime Slaw
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Spicy Cilantro Lime Slaw:
  • ½ C 0% greek yogurt
  • ½ medium jalapeno, seeded and diced
  • zest of 1 lime
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • ½ C chopped cilantro
  • ¼ C red onion, sliced thin
  • 3 C green cabbage (can also use red)
  • ½ tsp salt
For the Fish Tacos:
  • 1 lb Rockfish or cod, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 2 eggwhites
  • ½ C flour
  • 2 Tbsp cumin
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • tortillas (flour or corn)
  • Optional garnishes (crumbled cotija, cilantro, avocado, sour cream)
Instructions
For the Spicy Cilantro Lime Slaw:
  1. Using a blender or an immersion blender, blend yogurt, lime zest and juice, garlic and jalapeno until smooth. Pour into a medium bowl and add remaining ingredients, use a spatula and fold together until incorporated. Let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the fish.
For the Fish Tacos:
  1. In a low bowl crack egg, seperating the whites and whisk the whites only. On a plate add flour, cumin, chili powder and salt and mix together. Working in batches add fish to egg whites and transfer to flour mixtures, roll fish in flour mixture to coat. Set coated fish on a separate plate, continue until all of the fish is coated.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add butter and olive oil, when it begins to bubble add the fish cooking approximately 2 minutes per side, until cooked. Once all of the fish is cooked assemble the tacos with spicy cilantro lime slaw and desired garnishes such as avocado, crumbled cotija and additional cilantro. Serve with a lime wedge on the side.

Shrimp Tacos with Guacamole and Spicy Chipotle Crema

by 2 Comments

What do you do when you’re having a bad day and your kids are driving you nuts? You make shrimp tacos with guacamole and spicy chipotle crema, of course! No but seriously, my kids have been extra cray cray…is it a full moon or something? Ugh! I’m not hopping on their crazy train so I’m just going to drown my sorrows in this amazing meal…and maybe a nice cold Corona with lime, suddenly the bad day is a thing of the past.

So let’s get serious for a second starting with the chipotle crema. Warning – you cannot make this meal without making the chipotle crema, it’s just not allowed. Also, do yourself a big favor, don’t skip the guacamole either. I mean that that would just be borderline criminal to serve tacos without guacamole. Now that we have the ground rules established, let’s get down to business. The chipotle crema is simply a mixture of chipotle peppers in adobo, greek yogurt and a sour cream. The chipotle peppers in adobo can be found in the Hispanic section in any grocery store. Use what you need for this recipe and freeze the rest in an airtight container for next time.

chipotlepeppers

The combination of the pop of the shrimp, the smokey/spicy chipotle crema, the crunch from the purple cabbage and the guacamole to balance everything out will leave you dreaming about this meal. Dinner just got 100X better with these shrimp tacos, now I just need super nanny to knock on my door!

shrimptacos

Shrimp Tacos with Guacamole and Spicy Chipotle Crema
 
Save Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ C purple cabbage sliced thin
  • ¼ C cotija cheese
  • ⅓ C chopped cilantro
  • 1 lime cut into wedges
  • 8 corn tortillas - warmed
For the Spicy Chipotle Crema:
  • 1 C Fage 0% greek yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp Mexican crema or sour cream
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo + 1 Tbsp sauce (can find this in the Hispanic section in any grocery store - freeze unused chipotle peppers in a ziploc bag and reuse when needed)
  • ½ tsp kosher salt + more to taste
For the Guacamole:
  • 3 large or 4 medium avocados
  • ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • ⅓ C red onion, minced
  • ½ C loosely packed chopped cilantro
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
Instructions
For the Spicy Chipotle Crema:
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender or use an immersion blender until all ingredients are boken down and thoroughly incorporated. Set aside
For the Guacamole:
  1. In a bowl add the avocado and mash with a fork, mashing the avocado to desired consistancy. Add remaining ingredients and stir to incorporate.
For the Tacos:
  1. Heat a large skillet with canola oil over medium-high heat. While the skillet is heating, mix the cumin, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder and salt together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the dry powder on both sides of the shrimp (scale back on the cayenne and chili powder or add more depending on how much spice you prefer). Add shrimp to the hot skillet, don't overfill the skillet with shrimp, cook in batches if necessary. Cook each side approximately 2-3 minutes until shrimp is cooked through but not overcooked.
  2. Line tortillas with guacamole. Add shrimp (about 3) on top of the guacamole. Top with purple cabbage, cotija, cilantro and spicy chipotle crema. Serve with lime wedges on the side.