I *heart* Taco Night

I don't think I'm alone when I say that I love tacos. Maybe it's because of the smorgasbord of delights that are laid out when you eat them, maybe it's because you can customize each one to your liking, or maybe because they are just really delicious. Taco night at our house doesn't happen often, but when it does we make sure to pull all the stops; starting with fresh tortillas from Reyna Foods and building up from there.

Reyna actually makes their tortillas in-house daily - the bag I purchased was still warm when I took them to the counter. This Mexican-centric market has everything you would need to make any south-of-the-border dish including dried peppers, various rices, beans, spices and beverages that are not commonly found in our region.

I have to admit, I took a little short cut with this dinner by picking up a rotisserie chicken from Costco; I pulled the breast meat from the bone and shredded it then braised the shredded meat in some tomato juice with toasted cumin, coriander, lime juice and chili powder that I made from the aforementioned dried peppers (I think I already mentioned this in a previous post).

Two other distinctly important components to this dinner are guacamole and salsa. Both of these condiments are extremely easy to make and the taste of homemade guac/salsa is SO much better than the store-bought variety. I started with the salsa by roasting a jalapeno, serrano, and an arbol chile on the flame of the stove-top; after the skins are charred, let the peppers cool and scrape away some of the char (it doesn't have to be completely clean, as the char adds a nice, smoky flavor). Finely chop the peppers along with a small red onion, a handful of cilantro, a clove of garlic and about 12 oz of tomatoes. Toss everything with the juice of a lime and a bit of canola oil. It's very refreshing and has just enough kick for Carey and me.

The guacamole is even easier: scoop out the contents of an avocado and mush it up with some lime juice, salt, and a bit of the salsa that was just made and you're golden. Avocados are really good for you as well (in moderation).

Carey and I have different approaches when it comes to eating the tacos. She builds them all at once and digs in. On the other hand, I put all the goodies on the plate along with some tortillas and use the tear & scoop method (this is what they do in Mexico... it makes me feel a little more authentic).

Regardless of how these babies are eaten, they are always really good and VERY simple to make; this is one I would recommend to anyone.