oscar night and tacos!

a few weeks ago, my friends sarah and tony decided to invite themselves over to my place for the oscars. i had also made a promise to my friend travis that i would invite him over for tacos at some point, so i decided to kill two birds with one stone and have a small oscars get-together with tacos! sarah and tony thought ahead and brought oscar ballots so we could play along. unfortunately, most of us got our asses handed to us by leila, who predicted the majority of the oscar winners correctly. [sidenote: how awesome was hugh jackman? give me him in a tux (or wolverine gear) any day. mmmm hmmmmm. okay, moving on...]

my goal was to make dericious (yes, i'm spelling it like that - it's so much more fun to say!) and healthy tacos. i think it turned out pretty well, and it gave me an excuse to make my guac again. :)


errrca's award winning (someday) tacos - ayayayayaya!!!

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded & finely chopped
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 yellow squash, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced (any color works)
1 tbsp chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
couple pinches cayenne
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

6 avocados
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
4 limes
1 cup sour cream
corn tortillas
salsa
shredded sharp cheddar cheese

preheat the oven to 400. heat up the olive oil in a large deep skillet. when the oil is hot, add the ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. while the turkey is browning, you can make the guacamole. combine the avocados, tomatoes, red onion, half the jalapeno, juice of 3 limes, and half the cilantro. mash everything together, leaving it a bit chunky (i use my hand, but that's because i like playing with my food). salt & pepper to taste.

when the meat is browned, add the yellow onion, garlic, the remainder of the jalapeno, and crushed red pepper. stir and cook for a few minutes, then add the squash, zucchini, and bell pepper. cook for another few minutes until they just start to get tender. then add all the spices (chipotle chili powder through cayenne) and stir into the meat mixture. cook for another 2-3 minutes so the spices get distributed through the mixture. then add the honey and the chicken stock and allow to simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated.

while the turkey mixture is working, combine the sour cream, juice of 1 lime, pinch of cumin, and a small handful of the cilantro. mix together and set aside. wrap the tortillas in foil and put in the oven to warm.

when the stock in the turkey mixture is mostly evaporated, fold the remainder of the cilantro in. serve the tacos with the warmed tortillas, meat, sour cream mixture, cheese, salsa, and guacamole.

OLE!