Our Southern Odyssey enjoys creating recipes. Here at our home we love to eat taco salads, but we were disappointed when we could no longer eat nightshades. So we started experimenting to create our own Nightshade-Free Dried Taco Seasoning Mix that did not contain any nightshade peppers. After many attempts we finally came up with a recipe that we were very pleased with. We did not want to sacrifice flavor and we managed to make the mix with the perfect blend of herbs and spices.
After we created our Nightshade-Free Dried Taco Seasoning Mix we still needed to take into consideration the seasoning of the meat. Because we were not using tomatoes in our recipe we needed to find an alternative. Beet juice was the answer. Don’t turn your nose up, it taste nothing like beets. We are only using the beet juice for the color and the liquid. We are not adding so much in the meat that the meat takes on the flavors of the beets. The meat will take on the flavors of the Dried Taco Seasoning Mix.
When creating the Tomato-Free Taco Meat we like to add flavor to the meat by adding coconut oil to the cast iron skillet as well as organic yellow onions, bay leaves and coconut aminos. Coconut oil is a little sweet but don’t worry it will not make the meat taste like coconut. The onions add texture to the meat as well as a delicious sweet flavor. Onions get sweeter as they cook.
Bay leaves have a slight bitter flavor. They are used mostly in stews and soups. We love using bay leaves. Because, of the flavor it gives to this dish.
Coconut aminos is made from coconut sap. It is similar to soy sauce and a Worcestershire sauce in appearance. Coconut aminos is somewhat sweet. Just because its name contains coconut does not mean it taste anything like coconut.
To make a family size dinner we recommend using two pounds (32 ounces or 946.4 ml) of grass-fed ground meat. Any type of ground meats can be used for this recipe. Ground turkey, ground beef, ground pork or ground buffalo can be used. One could even combine different types of ground meat such as one pound of buffalo and one pound ground turkey. We make this recipe with grass-fed ground buffalo and we are very pleased with the flavor of the meat.
Before one even starts to brown the meat, the Nightshade-Free Dried Taco Seasoning Mix needs to be mixed up and ready to go. A link has been provided to our article on how to create our Taco Seasoning Mix. Please use the link above for more information on the seasoning mix.
Instructions:
Go ahead and make the Nightshade-Free Dried Taco Seasoning Mix and set it to the side, we will be using it later. Take out the cast iron skillet and coat the bottom of the skillet with coconut oil. It will take about one Tablespoon or 15 ml of coconut oil. Make sure not to get any oil on the outside of the skillet; because, if the oil comes into contact with the eye (burner) one of two things could happen, both of them are unpleasant, the oil could catch on fire or it could just smoke up the kitchen. Either way let’s prevent any oil from getting on the outside of the skillet.
Next take and chop one large organic yellow onion. We have an article on our site with a step-by-step guide on how to chop an onion. After the onion has been chopped take and turn the eye (burner) on medium heat. Go ahead and add the chopped onions to the skillet. As the skillet heats up, the chopped onions will start to cook. Take the spatula and keep moving the onions around. We want the onions transparent. As the onions cook they will turn from white to translucent.
Add the meat to the skillet when the onions become opaque. With the spatula take and mix the meat and the onions together. Cook the meat until the meat is brown and no pink is showing. The meat will need to be fully cooked before the seasoning is added. As the meat cooks continue to break the meat up with a spatula. We don’t want large chunks of meat.
After the meat get cooked take and add the Nightshade-Free Dried Taco Seasoning Mix that was made earlier to the meat in the skillet. Mix the seasoning mix in with the meat. Take and add one cup of organic unsweetened beet juice to the skillet and mix the meat and seasoning with the beet juice. Next take and add the three tablespoons or 45 ml of coconut aminos to the mixture. Mix the meat and the juices together well in the skillet.
Now take and add the two bay leaves to the meat mixture in the skillet. Make sure that the bay leaves are under the meat and juices. Don’t leave the bay leaves on top of the meat in the skillet. Also, never crumble a bay leaf. The bay leaf does not stay in the meat when it is being served. We will remove the bay leaves after the meat and seasoning has time to blend together. We want the bay leaf intact so that we will be able to remove it easily.
Simmer the meat for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Some of the juices will have evaporated and we will be left with delicious taco meat. One can serve the taco meat over a bed of mixed greens with some grain-free tortilla chips. If there is any leftover taco meat it can be refrigerated for a couple of days.
We hope that you enjoy the recipe. If you have any questions or comments please use the comment section located below.
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