I took Zoe to see Despicable Me 2 this week, and I think Eduardo’s Cinco de Mayo party got both of us in the mood for Tacos … and that cool guacamole-filled Mexican hat made of a big tortilla chip. Does anything like that really exist?

When I was growing up, we had a few taco nights at our house but not nearly enough to suit me. As an adult, I now understand that taco night takes a lot of effort. It’s not difficult to make tacos, but there are lots of moving piece-parts so you have to make sure you’re prepared with all the right ingredients and have plenty of time to put it all together. The finished product though … totally yummy and awesome.

And while I was at it, I went ahead and mixed up a big blender batch of margaritas because one can’t have tacos without margaritas right?

When I first started trying to make kosher tacos, I had a heck of a time finding Kosher taco seasoning. I visited numerous stores and was about to give up when I found Kosher Ortega Taco Seasoning at Target. I was so excited that I ended up ordering a case from the amazon.com.

Here’s my recipe for “winging it” Kosher Tacos:

Kosher Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of kosher hamburger meat
• Ortega hard taco shells (I even found an Ortega Taco Dinner Kit at Tom Thumb that included the shells, taco seasoning and sauce).
• Tortillas (flour or corn depending on your preference)
• Taco Seasoning (I used Ortega)
• Your favorite Salsa (I used Great Value Peach Pineapple Chipotle Salsa purchased at Walmart and the salsa that came with the Ortega taco kit)
• Lettuce (shredded)
• Tomatoes (chopped)
• Onions (chopped)
• Black Olives (chopped) optional
• Tofutti Sour Cream (Kosher pareve) I forgot to buy this when I was shopping and sadly missed it during our Taco night. The “fake” sour cream makes tacos so delish.
• Garlic powder, Salt and Pepper to taste
• Guacamole
• Fake Cheese (I haven’t tried the tofu cheese on tacos but it would probably be delicious.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for Taco Shells.

Cook hamburger meat in a skillet over medium to high heat until down. I prefer NO pink at all but my hubbie is a little more flexible with this rule. Add a bit of salt, pepper and garlic if you’d like.

Drain the hamburger meat and return skillet to the burner. Add package of Taco Seasoning and 1/2 – 1 cup of water, depending on your preferred consistency. I like the taco meat to be a bit soupy so I usually add about 3/4 cup of water. Be sure to pour the water over the taco seasoning powder to make it easier to mix in. Stir it all up to cover all hamburger meat with the seasoning. Bring to a boil, lower temp to medium-ish and cook for 15-20 additional minutes. I usually cover the meat but it’s not necessary.

While the taco meat finishes cooking, prepare your taco sides.

Shred lettuce; chop up tomatoes, onions and olives; make guacamole (avocados, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder) and place each item in it’s own small bowl to make it easy for dinner guests to serve themselves. You can also pour some salsa into a pretty bowl for easy serving.

Place taco shells on cookie sheet and bake for 3-4 minutes in oven.

Line up your items on a kitchen counter or table in an assembly line style: Taco Shells and Tortillas, Taco meat, Salsa, fake sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, etc. and let everyone build their own tacos.

I love the hard taco shells but my hubbie and daughter prefer the soft ones. I usually add my ingredients in this order:

• Fill taco shell with meat
• Add fake sour cream and a bit of salsa
• Add shredded lettuce
• Add tomatoes, onions and olives
• Enjoy!

You can be very creative with tacos. Use any ingredients that you like: substitute turkey or fish for the hamburger meat, add chopped up jicama or even red bell peppers. Tacos are one of those foods that you can be as creative as you’d like and not run to much risk of messing up.

This particular batch was so delicious, I’m ashamed to admit I had 3 of them … and probably could have eaten more if my good sense hadn’t stopped me.

Enjoy and Happy Kosher Treif Cooking!