No longer relegated to the broke-college-student set, Taco Tuesday has slowly and steadily been garnering a following since the late ’80s here in America.  The story goes that a taco chain called Taco John’s came up with the phrase to boost sales on a slow day of the week.  The chain also apparently trademarked the phrase, but overuse (and bad press for the chain) has caused this to go pretty much unenforced.

I enjoyed trying out this recipe from my Good Housekeeping Bridal Edition Cookbook.  I like that it’s quick and a little friendlier on the waistline in a season of baked goodies and overindulgence.  The other thing that didn’t stick out to me until I made it was the lack of cheese, but it does use one of my absolute favorite condiments: sour cream!  We have a little bit of an unhealthy love for sour cream at my house.  I could put it on anything.  The recipe calls for you to add lime zest to it?!  Limes have been one of my favorite citrus fruits since I was a little girl.  I got it from my dad.  When we would go to restaurants, instead of taking a lemon in his water, he would always ask for a lime.  Now I ask for a lime with my diet coke.  Lime zest in sour cream?  A whole different level I’m telling ya.

I don’t like food waste.  It bugs me.  Not only do I see it as a waste of our hard-earned money, we traded our time for that food, but I think about those who are food insecure.  When I was in college, I worked in a supermarket with a prepared foods section next to the deli.  At the end of the night, any food leftover in the prepared case was tossed.  It wasn’t permitted to be donated to a homeless shelter and not even employees could take the discarded items out without paying full price for them.  That struck me as socially irresponsible and fiscally irreverent.  I haven’t been able to shake the memory since.  A few months ago, I made this great enchilada casserole.  I had purchased a ginormous package of corn tortillas because they were on sale and even after making two casseroles, I still had plenty leftover.  I was relieved when I read I could freeze the remainder so they wouldn’t go bad before we could use them.  I was able to not only use them tonight for the tacos, but I also cut some up and made baked tortilla chips for chips & salsa!  This one is simple:  use a pizza cutter or knife to slice tortillas in fourths or eighths (they don’t have to be perfect), place on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil or spray with cooking spray, season with salt and pepper and bake at 350° for 10min.  Serve with warm salsa.

I am loving the recent offerings in the supermarket for packaged produce.  Sure it’s more expensive, but if it helps the average shopper fill his/her cart and bodies with more fruits and veggies, I count that as a win!  This recipe calls for shredded cabbage.  Sure I could buy and shred my own cabbage, but I have really been enjoying this superblend slaw from Walmart lately!  It has shredded cabbage in it, but also a whole host of other shredded good-for-you veggies!  It can be added to stir-frys and soups, swapped for half or all of a pasta in a recipe, mixed with other salad greens, or even serve as the basis of your salad itself.  It’s not only pretty, but it tastes great too!

This recipe for those who need something fast and fresh.  All told, it only took me 30 minutes from prep to serving.  The only thing lacking was a tortilla warmer.  My kitchen is fairly well outfitted and a tortilla warmer is something we’ve bought for others, but somehow don’t have.  I have my eye on this gorgeous Stoneware Tortilla Warmer from RSVP, but in the meantime, we’ll stick to wrapping the tortillas in foil and warming them in a 170° oven for 10-15min.  These tacos were not only satisfying, but also filling in a way that we didn’t feel too heavy going to bed.

What is your favorite taco filling?  Tell me in the comments below!