In addition to craving Chinese food lately, tacos have also creeped their way up to the top of my must-eat list. Nothing sounds better right now than a hot and crispy taco with tons of ice-cold toppings and infinite amounts of shredded cheddar cheese. RIGHT?!
At the same time, I also have a craving for fitting into my bikini next month, and have been attempting to cut back on carbs starting this week. It’s…not going well.
Everything has carbs!
Well, everything I like, anyway. Cereal, fruit, cereal, yogurt, cereal, popcorn, cereal, the 12-packs of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls Ben won’t stop buying on his way home from work, and did I mention cereal?
Still wanting to satisfy my latest craving, I met myself halfway and whipped up a hot and crispy taco for dinner tonight, but traded carb-laden taco shells, for low-carb endive leaves.
I’m calling them Low-Carb Taco Boats, and they are JUST the ticket! The endive leaves are super crunchy and actually hold up better than regular corn tortilla shells, which can get soggy and fall apart. Plus their mild taste really lets the toppings shine through. PLUS I seasoned the meat with my own homemade taco seasoning. It’s SO simple and there’s no additives like caking agents you’ll sometimes find in store bought blends. Love that!
Start the taco boats by getting the endive “boats” ready. I picked up a pack of endive from Trader Joe’s that included two regular heads and one purple head. Since we’re need a pretty sturdy “boat” to hold all the taco fillings, I stuck to the regular endive as the purple is more delicate.
Cut the stem end off the endive and peel back the leaves, then wash and pat them dry. That’s it! Boats = ready.
Next, prepare the taco filling by browning 1lb ground beef.
Drain the cooked ground beef, return it to the pan, then hit it with single serving homemade taco seasoning – just enough for 1lb of meat, aka the equivalent of a store bought taco seasoning packet. My homemade version combines chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder with other seasonings like cumin, paprika and oregano. Sprinkle the blend in with 1/4 cup water then mix it with the ground beef.
Taco Boat assembly is next! Lay out a variety of toppings, taco-bar style, which could include tomatoes, salsa, cheddar cheese, green onion, red onion, and crumbled goat cheese.
Spoon some taco meat into the endive leaves, then add any combination of toppers that you like!
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Homemade Taco Seasoning
Description
Homemade Taco Seasoning is made with spice cupboard staples, and is free from additives, preservatives, and artificial coloring!
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon regular or smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
Directions
- Mix together seasonings, then add to 1lb cooked and drained ground beef with 1/4 cup water. Mix well.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
Crunch-tastic, people – and so fun to eat!
[…] This isn’t so much a recipe as ingredients and you can make it exactly what you want, but so can your kids so it very easy to customize. And for all of you people out there reading this and thinking, tacos are not so easy to make you have to cut up all the toppings, etc., this is perfect for you. There is one less ingredient to cut, the lettuce!Source: inspired by, Iowa Girl Eats […]
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[…] Grab the yummy recipe here. […]
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I’ve been low-carbing for almost three weeks now (down 8 pounds!), and this is a taco recipe I can get behind! Tacos and pizza are the foods I’ve been missing the most (attempted to make a cauliflower pizza crust last week… yikes), and this looks like a recipe that I could make a couple times a week and not get tired of (I’ve been eating a lot of rotisserie chicken and tilapia). Thank you for the new spin on an old fave!
[…] Want to make a not diet-friendly food into something that won’t expand your waist size? Switch the corn shell in your homemade tacos to endive leaves. Yes, you’re welcome. Image and recipe via Iowa Girl Eats. […]
I am loving these! I really do love endive, and this is a perfect way to use it. So gonna do this!
[…] Low Carb Taco Boats […]
Three preschoolers devoured these with us last night. We made it with chicken and let them assemble their own taco boats. Huge thumbs up.
[…] shells too, I just used the lettuce as my taco vehicle! Kristen over at Iowa Girl Eats had a yummy taco post that inspired this […]
[…] ever said eating low-carb was an exact science, so when Ben and I got a carby craving this evening we headed over to Noodles […]
I think the best salsa I’ve ever had was Trader Joe’s, it’s super fresh and spicy. So yummy!
Great idea! I’m going to try that out! Also, on your masher that you were talking about. Have you ever tried out a Pampered Chef Mix n’ Chop. It’s fabulous & chops up ground beef, sausage, turkey, etc. If you go to my website http://www.pamperedchef.biz/agirth you can view a picture of it & more details. Im telling you, you will love it! :) Keep up the great recipes!!!
Just came from the store w/my endive! Making these tonight and I can’t wait! I am trying to low-carb thingy too. I love waffles in the morning and miss them so much :( but so far been doing ok. :)
It was 55 in MN – I can’t believe it was that much warmer in IA! crazy! 55 is still very nice this time of year though.
I love the treadmill workout. I pinned it to Pinterest and was going to put Courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats blog, but had to change it to Courtesty of the blog Iowa Girl Eats. I don’t know that it is possible to eat a blog!
Ahhahaha, I am hungry most of the time, though probably not enough to eat an entire blog. ;)
LOVE this idea. I may have to pick up some endive tonight!
This is soo awesome! I am on a low carb diet also and have been CRAVING tacos. I will definatly be trying these this weekend. Thank You!
Definitely going to try these! I’ll switch out the beef for turkey though.
Softshell tacos! If I had a choice, but actually I like all 3!