“Buongiorno” Chicken Tacos
Tuesday’s are an especially busy day in our home. If I haven’t made a dinner plan by 8 a.m., there most likely will be no dinner that night. Do you have days in your week like that? The busyness is not a surprise, I know it’s coming and I have to prepare early. Well, this last week, 8 a.m. came and went and no meal preparations had been made, so by 1 p.m., I was beginning to feel the pressure.
As you all may have figured out by now, I am on a taco “kick” (check my tacos out here, here and here). I am learning you can hide just about anything in a taco! Lately, grilled asparagus has been a favorite of mine because it is in season now. Check out my simple and tasty grilled asparagus recipe here. Grilled squash spears, grilled green beans, and fresh spinach leaves finely chopped are also good things to tuck into a taco.
**As a side note, when picking out asparagus, I have found the most tasty and tender spears are the ones that are the skinniest and the greenest. Snap off the bottom 2″ or so because that portion is typically tough and fibrous. But don’t throw the tough ends in the trash – throw them in your backyard and let the wild bunnies have a treat ((if you know you don’t have wild bunnies, compost them)).
So, back to my day, I have plenty of frozen chicken tenders, tortillas and Italian seasoning on hand…all three are staples in my kitchen. Other staples include: small bottles of very good red and white wine ((I am not a wine drinker – but the guy at the liquor store assured me the wine I was purchasing was very good & as a bonus, I bought both red and white in 10 oz portions, which are sold in 4-packs. 10 oz is often more than I need for one recipe, so I store the un-used portion in the fridge for up to a week)), dry Italian salad dressing mix, onions, jalapeños, & garlic. I quickly threw together the chicken and the marinade and coated some fresh asparagus in S & P and cooking oil and set them both aside for about 5 hours. Next, I promptly called David and informed him he would be grilling dinner — double bonus!
- 12 uncooked chicken tenders, (I used frozen)
- 1 pkg dry Italian dressing
- 2 T Italian seasoning
- 1/2 c. light Italian dressing
- 1 c. dry white wine
- 1 garlic clove, diced
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large jalapeño, thickly sliced
- Tortillas, 10-12
- tomatoes, diced
- avocado, sliced
- fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
- fresh spinach, finely chopped
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 T cooking oil
- 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
- 1 T sugar
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- grilled asparagus
- Place chicken tenders into a shallow glass baking dish. In a medium mixing bowl, combine marinade ingredients and pour over the chicken, making sure all of the chicken gets coated in the marinade. Over the next 5 hours, give the chicken a stir to ensure it's evenly marinading.
- Prepare garnishes and heat tortillas.
- Flash pickle the red onion by combining the oil, vinegar sugar and s & p, and pour in over the onions. Give the onions a toss to makes sure the get evenly pickled.
- Heat grill to a medium temp. Place tenders on the grill and grill for about 8 minutes or until done, turning over after 3-4 minutes.
- Assemble tacos and serve.
- The link for grilled asparagus is in the text of this post.
