Chicken Lime Tacos

You probably will start to notice a theme in my recipes, if you haven't already. I'd say 75% of what my husband eats for dinner is some kind of Mexican-inspired food. He's just picky about everything else so I don't even try sometimes. Anway, since I like to try new things and get some variety in our diet, I'm constantly trying out new Mexican recipes to expand the dinner possibilities at our house. This recipe was the result of a frantic search online to find something "different" for dinner and it's become a staple in our household. I like it because it's delicious and different from regular tacos, and because I always have the ingredients for it on hand so I can make it in a pinch.

It starts out, as you'd expect, with some chicken. I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Usually I buy these in family size packages and right after I get home from the grocery store I chop the chicken into cubes and divide it into 1 lb or 1.5 lb packages that I freeze. That way I always have some chicken on hand and can just thaw a package overnight if I want tacos or whatever the next day.

I start the tacos by heating the chicken pieces in a large skillet until they are just cooked through. If you are using chicken that has been frozen, you will want to pat your pieces dry with a paper towel before you cook them. Otherwise they will make a watery mess in the pan instead of browning.

Next, I add vinegar, lime juice, salt, sugar, garlic, pepper and oregano. I usually combine all this while the chicken is cooking to make things go faster. When I first read this recipe, the vinegar and oregano weirded me out. Somehow, though, it works.

At this point, you'll have chicken pieces cooking in a watery mixture. Yum-O. This didn't seem appealing to me, either the first time I cooked this recipe, so I tried scooping out the chicken and chopping it into smaller, taco sized pieces. The liquid in the pan has a chance to cook down some during this time, and when you add the chopped pieces back to the pan and stir for a bit, they soak up the extra juice and get even more flavorful.

It's a win-win.

You can serve this any way you want. As I've mentioned before, I'm a dork when it comes to eating tacos in traditional shells, so I usually opt for some kind of taco salad with chips. Soft shells work great as well for more coordinated people.

Lime Chicken Tacos

Recipe source: Allrecipes.com

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

2T cup red wine vinegar

2 T lime juice

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

chips, flour tortillas, toppings.

Saute chicken in medium saucepan over medium high heat until cooked through. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and chop into smaller pieces. Add chicken back to pan and cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until extra liquid in the pan has been absorbed.

Serve immediately over chips, taco shells or whatever your heart desires. Top with cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomato . . .

Posted in: Main Dish