Crispy Baked Chicken Tacos

I hardly ever cook with ground chicken, but this was actually pretty good! I have made this recipe as-is, but I've also just put the filling into regular tortillas for easy soft tacos. My husband even likes to eat it plain for lunch the next day. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

AD
• 2 ½ tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 pound ground chicken
• ½ medium sweet onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles
• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 ½ cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
• 8 flour or corn tortillas, warmed

FOR SERVING

• Sour cream
• Pico de gallo
• Guacamole

INSTRUCTIONS

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• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
• Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, onion and garlic, and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
• Stir in green chiles, chili powder, paprika, oregano and cumin until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in 1 cup cheese until well combined.
• Working one at a time, spread chicken mixture on half of the tortilla; top with 1 tablespoon cheese, folding over to seal. Repeat with remaining tortillas to make 8 tacos.
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• Place tacos in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil.
• Place into oven and bake until toasted and crispy, about 12-15 minutes.
• Serve immediately with desired toppings.

I usually just add pico or salsa, but you could add whatever taco toppings you want. I always double or triple the recipe and I'd highly recommend that if you have more than four people in your family. :)

One more tip - if you're feeling lazy, I've taken out the spices and just replaced them all with taco seasoning. It is pretty much just as good. Ha!

Shrimp Boil Foil Packets

There are a lot of versions of this recipe, including a slow cooker and a sheet pan version. I made foil packets and baked them in the oven, (oven instructions are at the very end of this recipe) and they were super good! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

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• 1 ½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 12.8-ounce package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
• 2 ears corn, each cut crosswise into 4 pieces
• 1 pound baby red potatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 teaspoons cajun seasoning
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat a gas or charcoal grill over high heat.
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• Cut four sheets of foil, about 12-inches long. Divide shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes into 4 equal portions and add to the center of each foil in a single layer.
• Fold up all 4 sides of each foil packet. Add olive oil, cajun seasoning, salt and pepper, to taste; gently toss to combine. Fold the sides of the foil over the shrimp, covering completely and sealing the packets closed.
• Place foil packets on the grill and cook until just cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.*
• Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

NOTES

*This can also be baked for 15-17 minutes at 425 degrees F.

One important change I made was peeling the potatoes and boiling them until they were tender before adding them to the foil and baking them. This ended up being crucial - they wouldn't have been fully cooked if I hadn't! So I highly recommend doing that - even if you don't peel the potatoes. (Peeling them was just my personal preference.) Anyway, my whole family liked this recipe. Definitely a keeper!