No Time to Cook? No Problem!

Katherine’s Quick and Easy Soft or Fried Tacos with Light Cheese and Chopped Tomatoes, Onions and Jalapeno Peppers

No one wants to cook anymore. Who can blame them? We’re all so busy. When you get home from work, you’re exhausted, right? Simply too tired to cook a meal, or not willing to use up valuable relaxation time for cooking. No longer do we have the luxury of stay-at-home moms or dads who slave over a properly balanced home cooked meal every day. Personally, I spent so many years developing and testing recipes for my books, I’m sick of cooking myself. So I devote a lot of my “recipe” development time these days looking for recipes that don’t need a recipe… you know, meals whipped up in minutes without any rules.

The biggest challenge for most people is after-work dinners. But I’ve found many good solutions for creating easy, tasty and quick meals. Some take literally five minutes.

One of my favorites is an open-faced taco. I buy small, thin, whole corn tortillas and make either a soft or a fried version. But the ingredients are the same. Tomatoes are notoriously bad this time of year, but I find the smaller tomatoes on a vine excellent. I keep them on the counter for days – even weeks – and their flavor concentrates.

Katherine’s Quick and Easy Soft or Fried Tacos with Cheese, Chopped Tomatoes, Onions and Jalapeno Peppers
other toppings include avocado, fish, shrimp, chicken chunks, you name it!

1 serving:

Medium sized plate
2 Taco shells
2 Bonbel light cheese rounds
Canned Jalapeno pepper slices, to taste
Chopped FreshTomatoes, to taste
Chopped Fresh Sweet Onions, to taste
Chopped Fresh Celery (optional)
Chopped Fresh Avocado (optional)
Flaky White Fish Filet (optional)
Chopped Fresh Cilantro (optional)
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Place the 2 tacos on the plate, top with the cheese and jalapeno pepper slices. Microwave for about a minute, until the cheese has melted. Pile on the remaining veggies, cilantro, salt, pepper, and any other toppings you’ve chosen. Roll up and eat!

For the fried version, I add a little canola or olive oil to a non-stick pan. When hot, I put the tacos in and brown on one side. Flip over and top with the cheese, veggies and other toppings. Once the cheese melts, they’re ready to eat.

I buy the thinnest corn tortillas I can find. At only 50 calories each, and with mainly veggies, you have a spicy, filling low-calorie meal – perfectly balanced – that everyone loves. For the guys who need more – eat more! It’s just more nutrition! To add more calories, pile on the cheese.

Thin, Whole Corn Tortillas

Other toppings can be fish, shrimp, chopped chicken, avocado… really, anything you like. I’ve discovered a spicy frozen fish filet that’s ready in minutes that I think works perfectly.

Spicy Frozen Fish Filet