Are you looking for an easy, crowd-pleasing meal that uses up a lot of veggies from your garden? A garden veggie taco bar may be just the thing.
On a recent summer family vacation that included three generations of my family, my siblings and I each were tasked with coming up with a different meal to feed all 17 of us, ranging in age from 12 to 71. In planning my meal, I took into consideration that we’d be staying in a rental home with an unfamiliar kitchen, which meant I wanted to keep things super simple. I also was leaving a garden back home that was brimming with all sorts of fresh vegetables that I wanted to incorporate into the meal in some way.
I came up with the idea of a taco bar, sure to please everyone. My taco bar offered a meat filling flavored with homemade taco seasoning and various raw veggies from my garden, in chopped or shredded form, as toppings. (Yes, I brought my garden veggies with me on vacation!)
The taco bar was a huge hit. The colorful veggies enticed even the pickiest of eaters to load up their tacos with healthy toppings. My brother finally met a beet (shredded raw) that he would eat, proclaiming that he had no idea beets could taste so good. And at least one kid eschewed the steak dinner prepared one of my siblings the following night in favor of leftover tacos and veggie toppings. I’d say that was a successful meal!
If you’d like to create your own garden veggie taco bar, my filling and taco seasoning recipes and suggested toppings are below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork (ground beef may be substituted for the ground pork)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (use a prepared taco seasoning or see my recipe below for a homemade version)
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 8 corn tortillas
- Variety of toppings
Instructions
- Brown the ground meat, onion and garlic a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until cooked through. Drain excess grease.
- Return skillet to heat and stir in taco seasoning. Add kale and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Warm tortillas in the microwave or oven. Fill with the meat and vegetable mixture and top with shredded or chopped garden veggies and other favorite toppings (salsa, grated cheese, sour cream, etc.)
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Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork (ground beef may be substituted for the ground pork)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (use a prepared taco seasoning or see my recipe below for a homemade version)
- 2 cups chopped kale
- 8 corn tortillas
- Variety of toppings
Instructions
- Brown the ground meat, onion and garlic a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until cooked through. Drain excess grease.
- Return skillet to heat and stir in taco seasoning. Add kale and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes.
- Warm tortillas in the microwave or oven. Fill with the meat and vegetable mixture and top with shredded or chopped garden veggies and other favorite toppings (salsa, grated cheese, sour cream, etc.)
Taco bar topping ideas
Clockwise from top left:
- Thinly sliced jalapeño pepper
- Grated chioggia beet
- Grated cucumber
- Diced plum tomato
- Grated zucchini
- Grated carrot
Homemade taco seasoning
For a great homemade taco seasoning, combine the following:
- 1/4 cup ancho chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Store the leftovers in an airtight container.
What are your favorite taco fillings and toppings?