Basic Beef Tacos

Categories: Tex-Mex Recipes

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 3 lbs. fresh tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 2 Anaheim or other mild to medium chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• Beef:
• 1 lb. lean ground beef (can substitute thinly sliced lean steak)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 any color bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Seasoning:
• 1 1/2 tsp. hot or mild chile powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• Garnish:
• 1 cup shredded romaine
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup prepared salsa
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream
• 8 small corn tortillas

Directions

1. For the sauce: In a blender, combine the tomatoes, chiles, onion and garlic and puree until smooth.

2. Transfer to a saucepan and add the vinegar, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Bring to a boil; recued heat and simmer 1 hour or until thick.

3. For the Beef: In a 12-inch skillet, cook beef over medium heat until cooked through, breaking id up into crumbles. Remove beef to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the skillet and saute until onion is soft. Return beef to skillet. Stir in seasoning ingredients and saute 1 minute. Add about 1 cup of the sauce (reserve the remaining sauce for another use) and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

4. While sauce simmers, heat the corn tortillas in an ungreased skillet for 30 seconds on each side. Keep warm.

5. To serve: Spoon the beef mixture into tortillas. Top with desired garnishes.

6. makes 8 tacos

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