GF Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Its Tuesday, so obviously I had to make tacos (Taco Tuesday, duhh!).  Honestly, this dinner was inspired by Chipotle.  Their cilantro-lime rice is absolutely revolutionary and wonderful.  And inspired me to start making my own cilantro-lime rice, as a regular part of my diet.  For this meal, I didn’t really follow a recipe- it was more just throwing ingredients together in different ways.  After all, isn’t that what tacos are- a hodgepodge of ingredients thrown into a tortilla?  Maybe not, but tacos are definitely very versatile and forgiving.  In fact, if I could pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life, I would pick tacos.  You could stop me at any point in my life, any time, any place to offer me a taco, and I will always be in the mood to graciously accept- and enjoy- that taco.  I guess that’s a slightly odd proposition, but I’m just trying to be make a point- that I love tacos!!!

Luckily, the Chicago area is teeming with fantastic Mexican restaurants.  And I have even found some pretty tasty ones at school in Williamsburg.  Besides tacos, there are three more things I love about Mexican restaurants.

#1:  They are so cheap!  Seriously, its great for a college budget when you want to go out for dinner, but not spend a fortune.

#2:  They are so quick!  Its craziness.  The food is generally served by the time you can even finish the conversation that was  started before ordering.

#3:  Endless complementary chips and salsa.  Enough said.

Back to the tacos…

First, I made the aforementioned cilantro lime rice.  Start out by cooking 1 cup of white rice in 2 cups of water, with a dash of salt.  Once cooked, mix in 2 Tablespoons lime juice, 1 teaspoon lime zest, and 1/ 2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro.

Second was the chicken, which I cooked with a little more lime juice and cilantro.  Once cooked, I chopped up the chicken with my spatula.

For toppings, I added some black beans, chopped up some tomato, shredded some cheese, made a little avocado concoction, and topped it off with some fresh cilantro.  For some reason, I love guacamole with chips, but don’t love the mushy texture on my tacos- I prefer chopped chunks of avocado.  But for these tacos, I wanted a little flavor.  So, I cut up an avocado and mixed in some salt, garlic powder, onion powder, minced jalapeno, and lime juice (can’t get enough of the stuff).

Credit for the drink in the picture goes to my daddio:  When I (half jokingly) suggested that my dad make a margarita for himself to go along with the tacos, he was all too willing to oblige (he thinks himself to be an expert mixologist).

Can’t wait for next Taco Tuesday!