It was Tuesday. You know what that means….
TACOS!
But after a long stretch of eating old school crunchy tacos, I needed something different. Meanwhile, I had half a butternut squash to use up and it was downright cold outside (or at least what counts for cold in Southern California.) And as always, there was a demand for “healthy” food from certain members of the household.
The solution? Squash tacos! Squash is great cold weather food and downright good for you. The squash would act as the meat, the kale as the lettuce, some spice for spice and bang, deliciouness. I then wrote down my plan, set about my day and then remembered that I had some extra bacon, and we quickly veered from vegetarian and healthy to better.
Serves 2, can easily double
| Mise en Place | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PRODUCE | DAIRY | ||
| 1/2 | butternut squash, small dice | 1/2 cup | sour cream |
| 6 leaves | kale, destemmed, cut in ribbons | PANTRY | |
| 1/2 | onion, small dice | corn tortillas, warmed | |
| 3 cloves | garlic, minced | pepitas | |
| 1/2 | lime, juice | STAPLES | |
| PROTEIN | kosher salt | ||
| 6 strips | thick bacon, cut into quarters | pepper | |
| SPICES | olive oil | ||
| chili powder | |||
| Equipment | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Oven, 425 |
| 2 | Mixing bowls |
| 1 | Sheet pan |
| 1 | Saute pan |
| 1 | Non stick pan |
| Directions | |
|---|---|
| Step | Action |
| 1 | Toss the squash with a generous splash of olive oil, a big pinch of kosher salt, and 2 tsp or so of chili powder |
| 2 | Arrange squash into single layer on sheet pan |
| 3 | Roast squash for 15 minutes, toss, roast for another 7. Evac and set aside (you can do this the night before) |
| 4 | Make your fake crema – Mix sour cream, lime juice, and a big pinch of salt. Stash in fridge |
| 5 | In saute pan, cook bacon over medium heat. Let fat render, and evac to paper towl lined plate just as it starts to crisp. Your destination here is slighly chewy not shatteringly crisp. |
| 6 | Remove excess bacon fat from the pan, leaving about 1 tbs |
| 7 | Add onion to pan, toss with 1 tsp of chili powder, a big pinch of salt, a grind or two of pepper, and cook until soft and starting to carmelize a bit |
| 8 | Add in squash and bring to temp |
| 9 | Meanwhile – warm tortillas in non stick pan. I like to have it on medium heat and warm each side 10-20 seconds and then stack them on a plate. |
| 10 | Kill heat in saute pan, and toss in kale. Toss it around to wilt it a bit. Taste, adjust seasonings. |
| 11 | Evac squash and kale mixture to a bowl for serving |
| 12 | Place pepitas in a bowl, bacon on a plate, grab the crema from the fridge |
| 13 | Arrange ingredients as a make your own taco station |
| 14 | Make your tacos |
| 15 | Enjoy |
The final product on the plate
Categories: Mains
