Guest Post: Taco Dinner With All The Fixings

I'm away on a cruise right now, and I've asked some of my favorite local bloggers to write guest posts for me. Below, Emily from A Cambridge Story shares a recipe for tacos with plantains. Emily and I finally got the chance to meet at the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter event last month. It was great to get to know her in person after discovering so many random coincidences we have through reading her blog -- we live down the street from each other, we both have labs, we both went to boarding school for high school, we're the same age, and so on. I hope you enjoy her post! And please check out Emily's blog too!


My husband, Christopher, and I love making Mexican-inspired foods at home. Recently, we made one of our best tacos dinners to date. Maybe it was the 85-15 beef that I begrudgingly bought (I usually prefer leaner meat) or the cinnamon and cayenne carrots that we prepared. Whatever the reason, this meal was seriously a winner!

Taco Dinner with all the fixings

1 package of ground beef (or meat substitute)
1 onion diced
1 packet of taco seasoning (or make your own with chili, garlic, onion powders, cumin, red pepper flakes and paprika!)
1 plantain sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 package of Spanish rice (or, again, make your own with tomatoes and chili powder!)
3 carrots diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 avocado diced
3 tomatoes diced
3 oz of sharp cheddar grated
4 taco shells

This recipe is pretty fool proof (always a plus!) First, cook rice. We use a rice cooker but the stovetop works just fine as well.

Brown ground beef and onions in a pan. Incorporate taco seasoning.

Salt and pepper the plantains and cook in a pan with some cooking spray until slightly brown. Flip and brown other side.

Blanche carrots in pot of hot water until slightly tender. Then, transfer to a pot with butter, cinnamon and cayenne pepper until carrots are cooked through.

Prepare toppings...

... and serve!

Not only was this meal simple but it incorporated a variety of textures and flavors. My favorite part was definitely the carrots - the cinnamon and cayenne paired perfectly, reminding me a bit of Mexican hot chocolate.

What do you serve with tacos? Do you focus on flavoring and enjoying the meat - or do you like to add all kinds of toppings?