{tasty tuesdays} Fiery Taquitos con Ensalada

Los Corwins are going Mexican tonight! Talia is still away on vacation, so once again I am filling in for Tasty Tuesdays. There are a couple of reasons for this recipe tonight: we had leftover tortillas, tortilla chips, and salsa from this weekend's taco night, and I could not think of anything else to make that would not take forever or require a million ingredients. So tonight you all are getting a treat of Cale's and my other stand-by dinner, with a twist!

Usually we will make a taco salad, but tonight I added something I've never tried before, but now this will definitely become a standard addition to taco salad night.

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 taco seasoning packet (We used HOT!)
• Mexican blend shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/2 onion (chopped)
• 1 can corn
• 1 can black beans
• Guacamole (either store bought or home made. I went the store bought route and got "Wholly Guacamole," again: Spicy! Hence the Fiery part of the Fiery Taquitos)
• 4 tortillas
• Lettuce
• Dressing (either Ranch or our choice Thousand Island)
• Pam or other cooking oil spray
  

First we prepared the ground turkey by browning it along with half of the chopped onions and then following the instructions on the seasoning packet (by adding 3/4 cup of water and the seasoning, let simmer for 5 minutes).
Preheat the oven at 450 degrees, and heat up the corn and black beans on the stove.
Prepare the taquitos by making a line of cheese and the chopped green onions down the middle of the tortilla. Top with the meat (I put about two tablespoons on each), roll the taquito, and place on a baking sheet. Once all four taquitos are on the sheet, spray the top with the cooking oil and bake in the oven until crispy (about five minutes, check often).


While the taquitos are baking, you can put together the taco salad. Fill the bottom of the bowl with lettuce, the remaining chopped onions, corn, black beans, and your choice of dressing. Toss until everything is evenly coated. Once plated you can top with the shredded cheese.
The taquitos can be dipped in the guacamole (which we did and really liked) or sour cream and salsa.

The thing that I like the most about this is how adaptable it is. If you don't have an ingredient or you want to try something else, go for it! We sometimes put crushed tortilla chips in the salad, or sliced olives. It is a really simple weeknight meal that you can stuff as many vegetables in as you want to. I'm sure it would be really great with green or red bell peppers.

Of course it can't be Mexican night without a nice big margarita! Enjoy the recipe and make it your own. Either way they sure beat those store bought taquitos anyday.


we were out of margarita salt. oh well.