Tropical beef tacos

As a kid tacos were always my favourite dinner. At first I thought Taco Bell was great (Americans will know what I am talking about and yes I am embarrassed) …but I soon gained an appreciation for my mom’s minced beef tacos and couldn’t get enough! I loved taco night.

This is a different take, drawing inspiration from another childhood favourite – Chinese Tangerine Beef, with the fun of a stuff your own taco.

It is really quite simple, comes together quickly an is something everyone can make their own with different toppings (seems to be a growing theme….but it really is a great way to encourage kids to experiment a bit with their food).

Beef filing:

• 500g beef steak (I use bavette)
• 2 oranges
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• pinch chili flakes (optional)
• 1Tablespoon peanut oil , pus anoter 1T for cooking
• 1Tablespoon corn starch

Zest 1 orange and juice 2 oranges, mix together with peanut oil, cumin, oregano and coriander in a shallow glass baking dish.  Slice beef in to ~1/4 inch strips and mix in to the marinade.  Leave to marinate for 20 minutes or overnight.

Pineapple Mango salsa:

• 1 cup  pineapple chunks (or all mango or all pineapple works as well)
• 1 cup mango chunks
• 1 medium red bell pepper
• 3 green onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• Juice of 1 lime
• ¼ t smoked paprika
• ½ t ground cumin
• ¼ t salt
• ½ cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
• 1 chopped jalapeno (optional)

Pretty simple – chop it all up and mix it all together.

Cook it up: take the meat out of the marinade, put onto a plate and dab off excess marinade with a paper towel.  Dust the beef strips with 1T corn starch and stir-fry in a hot skillet or wok in 1T  peanut oilfor 3-5 minutes, until cooked through and a nice brown crust has formed.  Add the remaining marinade back to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Toppings:

• Shredded cabbage
• Chopped spring/green onion
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced radishes

Serve it up: Heat up 6-8 tortillas, put a few strips of meat in to each, add a selection of toppings and a bit of the salsa.  Now that your taco is stuffed…stuff your face!