M.E.A.T Tacos
M.E.A.T Tacos. You would think these have some meat, right!?
Wrong! But what they do have is great flavor! A flavor so good that your day could not possibly go wrong after eating these tacos for breakfast.
Chicago is a city that certainly has no shortage of tacos. They can be found anywhere from street corners, to restaurants, to my home. Personally, I think tacos are the best thing since sliced bread and with half the calories, carbohydrates and no added sugar or gluten it makes for a healthier choice. And you can make them with organic sprouted corn for an extra healthy taco or even go as far as making them with coconut flour.
Now I am sure some of you may be questioning if a nutritionist is really justifying eating tacos made out of corn. Well…yes, I am and I enjoy the hell out of them! I love to make them from scratch too! I wouldn’t recommend eating tacos everyday but you can make these as healthy as you want. For example, when I am craving tacos and want to keep them on the lighter side, I use a romaine or bib lettuce as my shell, I won’t use crema in my eggs, and I don’t garnish with cheese. Boom! Now the taco is almost vegan and corn free.
On the other hand, if my father is over and I try to make him a vegetarian taco he would rather starve. In those instances I will grill up some arrachera (skirt steak) and leave dad with a smile on his face while eating a steak and egg taco.
As you can already see, there are many options and ways to attack this. Every day we are faced with different options and choices in terms of what we will put in our bodies and eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I always have client’s state that they don’t know where to start and that it is hard to be “good” all the time. And that leads them to ask the popular question “how do you do it?”
It really is a great question. I used to (and still do if I am being honest) face the same cravings like pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc. I slowly started making better choices. Not always the perfect or best choice…just the BETTER one. Years ago I would a cheat meal from time to time. Today I just remake that “cheat meal” into a meal that is better for me and still tastes delicious. It is the only math equation I am good at, subtracting the bad ingredients and adding in the good ones! If you are like me and have food cravings you may not always want to have, I hope these tips can help you make healthier choices in your lifestyle. Now let’s apply this philosophy to our taco example.
Good, better, and best. It is an easy system I use to hold myself accountable with the choices I make. I constantly use this in a variety of scenarios:
Weekend Breakfast Options:
Breakfast option #1
“Bad choice” Burrito with chorizo, potato, egg, cheese, and sour cream
Breakfast option #2
“Good choice” Taco with turkey sausage, egg, and cheese on a corn tortilla
Breakfast option #3
“Better choice” my M.E.A.T Taco on a corn tortilla
Breakfast option #4
“Best choice” LACO (lettuce wrap taco) Scrambled eggs in coconut oil with mushrooms, avocado, and fresh salsa on a lettuce taco shell
You always have the option to make better food choices. Just making one “better” choice to start is a great step forward to avoiding more cravings for “bad” food in the future. The more you cut the cheat foods out, the less cravings you will have. Over time you’ll find the cheat foods don’t even make you feel as good and it becomes easier to naturally avoid them altogether.
Now let’s get into this recipe!!!
Corn Tortillas (makes about 20 tortillas)
Ingredients:
• 2 cups organic masa harina
• 1½ cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
Mix salt into the masa harina corn flour. Then pour the oil into your water. Slowly pour the water and oil into the dough to get a good consistency. The dough should be soft, but not sticky, like a smooth butter cookie dough. If dough is still dry add a tablespoon more of hot water until you reach the right texture. Let rest for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.
Preheat a griddle or flat surface. Divide the dough into 2 inch sized golf balls. Press dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or you can use a large zip lock bag and cut a circle larger than the tortilla press so that you have two plastic circles. Preheat you griddle so that the front burner is high heat and the back burner is medium high heat. Press the dough using the tortilla press and place flattened dough on the medium high heat griddle. Cook for 30-45 seconds then flip the tortilla onto the hot side of the griddle and cook for an additional minute. Flip the tortilla one last time until your tortilla puffs up. This shouldn’t take more than 20 seconds at which point your tortilla is done. Be sure to keep your tortillas in a tortilla warmer with a dish towel until ready to serve.
Scrambled Eggs Ingredients:
• 8 organic large eggs
• 3 tablespoons cold grass fed ghee
• 2 tablespoons organic sour cream or Mexican crema
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Place eggs and half the ghee in a pot with a heavy bottom (to evenly control heat). Place burner on medium heat and using a spatula whisk the eggs until fully combined. Once fully combined add remaining ghee and continue to cook the eggs by periodically taking your pot on and off the heat for about a total cooking time of 5 minutes. It is important to constantly be stirring your eggs to ensure they never get brown on the bottom of the pan. Once you see the eggs are almost completely cooked remove pot from heat and add the sour cream to slow down the cooking process and make your eggs extra creamy and delicious. Sprinkle with a touch of sea salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust to your preference.
Sautéed Mushrooms Ingredients:
• 10 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced (or any kind of mushroom you like)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo chili flakes (or ancho or any chili flake you can find)
• Pinch of sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
Directions:
Place sauté pan on medium high heat to heat oil. Once hot, add mushrooms and sauté until lightly brown and tender. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.
Tomatillo Salsa Ingredients:
• 6 tomatillos, peeled
• 2 poblano peppers
• 1 jalapeno (optional)
• 1 large red onion, quartered
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup Olive oil, plus more for roasted
• 1 avocado
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Toss tomatillos, peppers, and onion in olive oil and season sea salt. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until slightly chard and soft, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and repeat for another 5 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then transfer vegetables and their juices to a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth or desired texture is reached.
Assembling your Taco:
Tortilla, Scrambled Eggs, Sautéed Mushroom, Sliced Avocado, Tomatillo Salsa
Additional Toppings:
Cheese
Cilantro
Sliced
Scallions
Crispy potato strips
Crema
Toasted Pepitas