Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Walking taco

So one of the random swag items I picked up at Blogher was a couple 100 calorie packs of Fritos. "I have been fiending for a walking taco," I told Michelle. "Take more! Take them all!" insisted the poor Frito-Lay dude that got stuck manning the desk. I didn't have to be asked twice - we each took a couple more and put them in our bags. And last night I was having Stacy over for Tacos and to watch the Bachelorette finale (woot! Go Team Ed!).... it was like a perfect storm that said "Make thyself a walking taco and NOW!"

Since I love them so, I thought I would take and post some pics, even though it's like the most ridiculously easy recipe EVAH.

I used to eat these all the time at the Evansville Fall Festival, county fairs, the state fair, etc in Indiana. Since I've been living in Chicago (6 years! eek!) I have been to very few of those kind of events. Sure, we have street fairs but they have fancy food like Chicago Style Pizza or Pad Thai. Therefore this was a long time coming.


First throw the meat in a pan (1 pound). I used ground turkey, because that's what I had. But if you get 95% ground sirloin it's really the same calorie content as turkey. Sure you save some fats with turkey, but not a whole lot (unless you get the 100% white meat... but then it's just not as juicy and the meat is really dry... not as appetizing)

First: get a box, second: cut a hole in the box... wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, here is the meat all browned up.
Then pour in 2/3 cup of water
Grab some of this stuff. You can buy the generic stuff or Lawry's. I buy the Old El Paso because I'm pretty sure that's what my Mom bought when I was younger. Plus they have this "less sodium" version which is probably good for me or something.
Pour that junk into the pan and stir it all up
Let the meat simmer until the liquid is pretty much all gone. Somehow I didn't get a pic of the liquid being all gone, but you get my point.
Take out your swag bag and get your bag of Fritos. Cut off the top of that bag, yo.
Put some meat in the bag on top of the Fritos. A random Frito fun fact - they are like the simplest chips ever. If you look at the ingredients list, they only contain whole corn, corn oil, and salt. That must mean they are health food!
Put a dollop of Daisy on it. I think I've been watching too much TV. Anyways, this is the light stuff and it's only like 40 calories for 2 tablespoons. I estimate this to be about 10 calories' worth.
A bit of reduced-fat Mexican shredded cheese comes to the party
A sliced-up cherry tomato, some olives, and green onions add some color
Salsa rounds out the mix. This stuff is Mrs Renfro's Mango Habanero salsa. When I get down to one full jar I get all freaked out and run out and buy more. This stuff makes plain eggwhite omelettes delectable.
Stir it up and eat! Something about the Fritos being in a bag makes this so much better. Maybe because all the toppings staying on the Fritos instead of getting all over a bowl. I don't know and I don't care, I just know that this walking taco had a lifespan of about 10 seconds.
So wrong but it feels so right. Actually, with all the lowfat stuff, this thing only had a bit over 200 calories. Not bad! WAY better than the State Fair version, I'm sure!


3 comments:

Mich said...

I still think you should have a party and have a walking taco station - where everyone can make their own.

Sidenote: Lauren and I once had a taco party and we dubbed it the "Tico, Taco, Let's be Paco" party. Not exactly PC, but hella-fun.

Unknown said...

You can get walking tacos at Diversey Rock-n-bowl. It is the only place I have ever seen them.

MonkeyBusiness said...

Oh man, I knew there was more than one reason I loved the Diversey Rock-n-bowl!

I need to keep that in mind the next time we go.