It's Taco Tuesday!

Do y'all have any routines when it comes to food?  Like Meatloaf Monday or Taco Tuesday?

We don't necessarily have a routine but on most Tuesdays we like to have tacos.  I don't know why or how it even got started but it's not a bad routine to have (wink).

Several months ago I came across a recipe on Pinterest for a Taco Bake.  I decided to give it a try to change things up a bit.  (CountryBoy would say I like to change things up all the time; I like to keep him on his toes, ha!).  I followed the recipe and it was yummy but could've been tweaked a bit to suit our tastebuds.

So I took what we like in our tacos and came up with my own version of the Taco Bake and man, was it oh so good!

Here's the cast of characters I used...

Brown some meat.  I used ground turkey.  You can use whatever you like, ground turkey, chicken, beef, bison, whatever suits your tastebuds.

I seasoned it as I usually do when browning meat with salt and pepper.  I added some chopped onions and let them cook.  Once the meat is browned and onions are translucent I sprinkled a tablespoon of homemade taco seasoning on the meat and added 1/2 cup of water and let it all simmer until the water was absorbed.

While the meat was browning I heated up the refried beans.  We like a little heat in our food but we don't want to sweat while eating it!  So, I got a can of refried beans with green chiles.  Use whatever kind of refried beans you like.  Or, if you don't like refried beans don't use them.  

Now that everything is ready, I misted the bottom and sides of the pie plate with olive oil and placed a burrito style tortilla in the bottom of the pie plate.

You don't need a whole lot of olive oil, just enough to keep the tortillas from sticking.

Once your tortilla is on the bottom it's time to start layering.

I spread about one third of the refried beans on the tortilla.

Then topped it with about a third of the ground turkey and black olives.

Next came some shredded cheddar and pepper jack cheese.  I would recommend shredding your own cheese.  It's cheaper than buying pre-shredded cheese, it's cheesier and it's tastier because it's just cheese with no other additives.

Also, use whatever cheese or cheeses you like.

I used a little over half a small block of cheese each.

Repeat this two more times starting with the tortilla and ending with the cheese.

Now it's ready for a preheated 350 degree oven.

It doesn't need to be in too long since every thing is already cooked.  Just long enough to melt the cheese and warm through.

While it's heating, chop some lettuce and tomatoes.

I was going to put it on top of the taco bake when it came out of the oven but I decided there wasn't enough room and probably wouldn't stay so I put them in bowls and added them to the slice of taco bake.

I also added a dollop of sour cream and poured some taco sauce on mine.

Oh.My.Goodness.  YUM!

Oh.My.Goodness.  GONE!

This was definitely a hit with CountryBoy!

I will share with you my recipe but I want to stress that you can totally customize the recipe to what you like in your tacos.  If you like a lot of heat add jalapenos.  Don't like any heat?  Use plain refried beans and just cheddar or maybe a mix of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.  It's totally up to you.

Here's what we like:

Taco Bake

1 lb. ground turkey

1 can refried beans

1 small can sliced black olives

3 burrito style tortillas

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1/2 cup water

1/2 - 3/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 - 3/4 lb. shredded pepper jack cheese

lettuce, shredded or thinly sliced

1 tomato, diced

salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add onions.  When onions are translucent, sprinkle taco seasoning on meat and add water.  Simmer until water is absorbed.

Heat refried beans.

Using a pie plate, mist bottom and sides with olive oil.

Layer:  tortilla, 1/3 of beans, meat, black olives and cheese.  Repeat layers two times.

Bake in preheated oven until cheese is melted and warmed through, about ten minutes.

Shred or thinly slice lettuce and dice a tomato.

Slice and serve with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and taco sauce.

Enjoy!

And, in case you're wanting to make your own taco seasoning here's the recipe I use..

Taco Seasoning

¼ cup chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon black pepper

Put ingredients into a jar and shake.

Which reminds me, I need to make some more!

Again, there's a lot of room for creativity in this dish.  Use ingredients you like and it will be yummy!

I hope ya like it!

GoneCountry