West African &
Mexican Fusion Dish
Prep time: 15 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients & Prices:
Trader Joe’s Corn Tortillas, Trader Joe’s Bell Pepper Stir Fry Mix, Rice, Trader Joe’s Bag of Salad, Trader Joe’s Chicken Tray, Cherry Tomatoes, Fresh Cilantro
Today’s recipe is a very
easy but flavorful meal. It is perfect not only for taco Tuesday, but for
occasions like Cinco de Mayo or any other festival. Also, I love to make this
meal on the weekends. Now, if you saw my meal prep blog post then you will know
I like to meal prep on Sundays. I especially like to meal prep meats or bases
for stews. For this meal – I already prepped the chicken, boiled about 4 cups
of rice and also cooked the base which was used to make the stew for the Jollof
Rice. I will have a separate post on how to make stew, but basically it is 2
onions, 1 bell pepper, ½ a can of tomato paste and 4 medium sized tomatoes
blended in the blended and stored in tubberware for multipurpose use!
If you already have your
stew base, rice & chicken prepped – this meal will take 20 mins to make.
Not only is this an Easy
& Quick Dish; but it’s a frugal dish too! Whether or not you are on a
budget – there’s nothing wrong with #maximizingyourdollars. I will list the
prices for the ingredients too.
In my area – Trader
Joe’s has organic food for very reasonable prices. I prefer Trader Joe’s most
of the time. But you do NOT have to purchase Trader Joe’s food or even organic
to make this dish, that is all your personal preference.
Now onto this
drool-worthy dishhh…
First, you need to
defrost the Trader Joe’s Bell Pepper Stir Fry Mix, after it’s thawed – put it
on medium heat. You want it to be caramelized.
The great thing about
this bell pepper mix is that it has onions in it also. The ingredients on the
back of the bag do not say there are any additives or chemicals, it is just
frozen peppers and white onions – so it is a perfect alternative to chopping up
several colors of bell peppers and onions for this meal. Which makes it quick,
which is the goal here! Also – depending how many you are cooking – you may
only need half the bag. Freeze or refrigerate the rest. #Multipurpose
Next, you want to
chop up the chicken you’ve cooked.
It doesn’t matter if
they are drumsticks, thighs or any other part of the chicken. You want to chop
it up and set it aside.
Third, you want to
check on your bell pepper/onion stir fry and make sure it isn’t burning.
Fourth, I go ahead
and plate the side salad.
Take a handful of
pre-washed salad and put it on your plate. Drizzle some salad dressing of your
choice onto the salad. Finally, chop up a few cherry tomatoes and place on the
side salad. Set the plate aside.
Next, this is the
West African fusion aspect of the dish. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of
grapeseed oil – or any other oil you prefer to use.
Place a small piece of
onion in the pan, so that when it starts bubbling – you know the oil is ready.
You will then add a sizeable 2 serving size scoops of stew into the pan. Stir
it around and leave for five minutes. As the stew is cooking add in a scoop of
the white rice you already cooked to the stew and begin to mix the stew and
rice together. Season however you would like. Let the rice cook as you stir it
until it is dry and slightly crispy but not burnt or hard. Then turn off the
stove. Congrats, you just made an ad hoc version of a West African dish –
Jollof Rice!
The next step is to
fry your tortillas.
Heat a small pan with a
tablespoon of grapeseed oil on high heat and then allow the oil to heat – do
not step away from the stove at this point because as the oil gets hot it may
get smoky in your home quickly! The key is to watch the oil intently. Pull the
pan to the next stovetop (that is off), and place the tortilla inside. Then
place it back onto the initial stovetop it was on. Let the tortilla cook for 1
minute on each side. As it becomes brown, place on a plate covered in a napkin.
Make sure that plate is not too close the stovetop so it does not catch
fire!
*You do not want to EVER
place things into a pan that is on a very HOT stovetop. The oil can and will
slash up into your face or on your hands. I recommend moving the pan or pot to
the next stovetop, pausing for 5 seconds or so, before pouring or placing
anything into it. Safety first!*
After you have fried as
many tortillas as you would like, you are ready to assemble everything.
Now, you have your plate
in front of you which you already placed a side salad on. Place three tortillas
on each plate next to your side salad. First you put down the tortilla open
faced (don’t bend or fold it), then scoop out onto each tortilla an equal
amount of Jollof rice in the center of the tortilla, on the other side scoop
out your bell pepper stir fry, and on the opposite side scoop out your diced
chicken. Garnish with parsley or cilantro and Viola!
Depending what you like
– serve with guacamole, sour cream, bbq sauce or hot sauce!
These tacos are meant to
be eaten like a taco – but are presented open face!
xo
xo
