Tacos Al Pastor, Fake-Out Style

Remember that post where I said if you have rice noodles and pad thai sauce in your cupboard, you will always have a dinner on hand?  It was true.  But I forgot to mention one important thing.

Tacos.

Did you know that you can put lots of things in a tortilla?  Like…ANYTHING.  Veggies, beans, meat, it don’t matter.  Saute it all up with some spices, roll it up in a tortilla, and you have yourself tacos.  If you keep a package of flour tortillas in your fridge (and they keep for a surprisingly long time…thanks artificial preservatives!) then you’re already one step closer to dinner.  Corn tortillas are better, and more authentic, but they also have a very short shelf life.  If you're lucky enough to live in Chicago or any city with a strong Hispanic presence, though, you can buy still-warm corn tortillas in many an ethnic grocery store across the city.

The key here is not to think about Ortega and “gringo tacos” with lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc.  Sure, you can always go that route, but making an improve taco dinner requires a bit more imagination…more finesse.  Plus, you surely can make a better taco yourself with less meat and less salt than those ground-beef-and-giant-MSG-packet dinner kits.  

Tangerines floating in the marinade...

Or use the meat & spice kit, but think of add-ins to the meat and spice mixture to help "stretch" the filling (Or how one big chicken breast can be stretched to fill 10 tacos).  One of my favorite, not-quite-expected additions is diced potatoes.  Brown the meat, then cook the potatoes in the same skillet to crisp them up in all that luscious animal fat.  Black beans (or any beans, really) is a super simple addition too, and a great one at that.  And peppers, c'mon, peppers are basically begging to be added to tacos.  Have a leftover roast and veggies?  Chop it up, fry it up, season it up, and a traditional meal can become an exotic (OK, mexico is not exotic) feast.

Don't have the spice kit?  Seriously, you can use anything to flavor the mixture, and you probably need a whole lot less seasoning too, since you're adding in more flavor.  I prefer cooking up onions, meat, and veggies and then liberally seasoning with my handy stove-side spice drawer wide open - garlic, onion, oregano (the mexican kind is best), chili powder, hot sauce, etc. Give it a little moisture with, really, just about anything -  salsa or tomato/enchilada sauce is an easy fix; chicken stock will do. 

Really, though, what I usually do is marinate.  Marinate a bunch of chopped up meat for an hour, a day, however long, then quickly stir-fry it with whatever add-ins you please.  The marinade forms an automatic sauce for the meat and veggies.  You can even freeze the whole mixture of meat-in-marinade, then pull it out whenever the taco craving strikes.  And it will. 

See what I'm getting at here - a taco is nothing more than a blank palate for whatever you put insdie of it. And on top? Forget the American-style salad bar. In mexico, they top tacos with nothing more than onions and cilantro.  I never turn away a little cheese, and if Sour Cream must be had, try 2% greek yogurt - just as tangy and cool, and much better for you.  So you can have that third taco.   

These turned out very well - but very spicy!  Guess I need to watch myself when carelessly not de-membraning peppers.  You can really taste the smoky chipotle alongside the sweet citrus.  In a tortilla, they need little or nothing else, since the veggies are all cooked up in the skillet with them.  But a little sour cream never killed anyone.   

Pork Tacos al Pastor

Marinade

Juice of 1 lime

Juice and zest of 1 small orange/tangerine

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 jalapenos, chopped (seeded if you’re worried about heat)

½ medium onion, chopped

1 chipotle chile

1 oz bloody mary mix, ketchup, salsa, or another tomato-based sauce-like entity.  Or a chopped tomato.  Or skip it.

1 lb pork chops, loin, or another relatively lean cut

1 green pepper, seeded and cut into strips

1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips

1 small red onion, halved and sliced pole-to-pole in thick strips
Tortillas, for serving
Sour cream or greek yogurt, for serving and to tame the heat!


In a blender, pulse all marinade ingredients until well blended (some chunks remaining are OK).  Pour into a large ziploc or covered container. 


Dice the pork chops into bite-sized chunks, or strips, or leave whole and chop after cooking.  It's forgiving.  Place meat into marinade and refrigerate (or freeze) at least a few hours, preferably overnight (if freezing, I bet you can go a few months easily).  


When ready to cook, heat a tsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add meat and stir-fry until beginning to brown - 2-3 minutes.  Add the veggies (and any remaining marinade, if desired) and stir-fry until meat is cooked through and veggies are crisp-tender, another 4-5 minutes. 


Serve with tortillas, sour cream, and maybe a sprinkle of cilantro, if you have any, which I didn't.