Purple Tacos

Hey there friends and local food eaters,

Here's a fun meal idea from our friend Skyler: CSA manager who lives and works here on the farm. Enjoy! 

This meal originated, as many do, out of necessity. No matter what type of job we have or hours we work, something we all have in common are those nights we get home later than we expected. When there's no time (or will) to cook a meal at the end of a long day we turn to one of our favorite foods: tacos. Taco night! But alas, no black beans in the pantry. 

What I did have was a bundle of organic beets. We like beets. Not like like, but we enjoy them. Ok, so they’re edible at least. The (sometimes) inconvenient truth about beets is there's two groups of people in this world; beet lovers and everyone else. And for everyone else - especially kids - calling something pink or purple adds a level of novelty that sometimes works.

Against my better judgement, I diced up the beets and browned them with ground beef.

The resulting tacos were so good, I felt a need to share!

Grassfed beef: the substance, healthy protein and fat, and micronutients make it the nutritional star of any meal. Here it is complimented by the earthy flavor of beets, and the salty smoke of chipotles have their own special relationship with the sweet crushed pineapple. While most toppings are optional, adding a generous helping of cilantro really takes these tacos to the next level in both texture and flavor. Other substitutions include our chorizo or bayou sausage (casing removed) or if you really feel ambitious, you could cut up a larger cut of beef like our round roast or london broil (remember these cuts are leaner, so you may need extra oil added).

Therein lies the true magic of tacos: 

most meat and veggies can become a delicious meal.

Beet Beef Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 lb North Mountain Pastures Grass Fed Beef

• 1 bundle organic beets cut into ¼” cubes (stems optional)

• ½ can crushed organic pineapple

• 1 small can chipotles in adobo sauce, roughly chopped

• 12 organic corn tortillas (homemade works too!)

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• Anjo or cayenne to taste

• Salt 

Condiments and toppings (optional)

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1 lime cut into wedges

• Preferred cheese for tacos (we like Cotija)

• Salsa Verde

• Diced onion

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Preheat a large pan over medium high heat. After a few minutes add the oil and once hot add the beef to brown over high. Break up any big clumps of beef with a spatula. 

3. Once beef is browned (two minutes) reduce heat to just above medium. Add diced beets and stir. Allow beets to saute for a few minutes with beef until they begin to caramelize.

4. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven.

5. Add spices and salt to pan, stire, and let saute until fragrant but not burnt, a little less than a minute.

6. Add a splash of water to the pan to create steam and cover with a tight fighting lid. Allow beets to steam until they are almost tender through and through.

7. Add pineapple, chopped chipotles, and adobo sauce to pan. Stir thoroughly and leave uncovered over medium heat until liquid is reduced to a thickened sauce.

8. Remove tortillas from oven and immediately serve scoops of filling in tortillas with cotija, cilantro, salsa, onion and lime. Ensure any unused tortillas are quickly wrapped back in foil and returned to the oven if they will be used later.

Seriously. Enjoy.

Thanks for supporting local foods!