(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
Tacolicious is a chain of restaurants in San Francisco, as well as the title of the owner Sara Deseran's recent cookbook. It could also be the refrain of busy families on school nights. The only thing that might be better than tacos for families on the go would be slightly more innovative fillings than usual to break the boredom.
Those are some of Tacolicious' specialties. Think about stuffing your tortillas with butternut squash, kale and crunchy pepitas (pumpkin seeds). They will then be both attention grabbing and nutritious. An egg, potato, onion and cilantro taco can be either an innovative breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Here are a few other filling ideas from a fun section Deseran calls "Twenty 20-Minute (Max) Tacos del Dia (of the Day)." Like the rest noted in this article, they are meant to be served fully cooked and hot.
- Salmon with corn and tomato salsa
- Roughly chopped fried chicken that's been removed from the bone with cabbage, pickled jalapenos and fresh lime juice.
- Fresh-cooked flaked crabmeat with chopped cilantro, onions and celery.
Tacolicious is part of a larger trend. Let these innovations inspire you as well:
- Mix together heated refried beans and guacamole. Spread in taco shell and sprinkle with chopped pine nuts.
- Chop leftover meatloaf and include in taco shells with diced cooked green beans and ketchup spiked with salsa.
- Cook quinoa (the popular high-protein seed that's cooked like a grain) according to package directions, substituting mango salsa for as much of the water as you desire. Use as taco filling, along with steamed tofu topped with chopped peanuts.
- Bake apples and use as filling in flour tortillas with ground cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
Fun fare like this also proves food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!
Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you - or your kidlet helpers - choose to use can't help but draw "wows" from family members and guests.
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: Ever disappointed that your cheese doesn't melt evenly atop a recipe? It might be the depth of your pan. Since it increases the surface area, a more shallow casserole dish is more likely to mean more balanced melting.
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet(Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
