When cooking for teenagers one often has to be creative… This has been my dilemma over the past few days as I am helping to take care of my boyfriend’s little brother while their parents are away in Costa Rica. After much deliberation I decided to go with good ol’ faithful: chicken tacos. No matter who you happen to be cooking for, tacos never seem to fail. Because I consider myself to be some what of a gourmet, however, I couldn’t just make plain grilled chicken for these tacos. I had to be inventive and original. Thus, my spicy shredded and stewed chicken tacos were born.
I began by boiling six skinless and boneless chicken breast in salted water for approximately fifteen minutes. Once cooked through the breasts are then put into a large mixing bowl and shredded with two regular sized kitchen forks. In the meantime, one medium size red onion was diced and added to a large sauce pan to soften with olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the onion has cooked through the shredded chicken may be added to the pan along with one tablespoon minced garlic, one can of diced tomatoes, one small can of diced and roasted jalapeno peppers, one tablespoon chile powder, one teaspoon cumin seed, the juice of one lime, and salt and pepper to taste. Once all of the ingredients have been thoroughly incorporated bring the mixture up to a boil and allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. As the chicken stews prepare the rest of your toppings. The toppings for a taco are subject to each consumer but for this particular preparation I choose to use diced heirloom tomatoes, avocado, sliced black olives, cilantro, refried beans, diced red onion and graded white cheddar cheese. When the chicken is done cooking place several white corn tortillas into a large saucepan and heat through.
When everything is ready, invite your guests to dine buffet style by building their own customized tacos as the evening progresses.
Step one: Cook.
Step Two: Build.
Step Three: Feast!
