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When
you think about it, there are a lot of high calorie
ingredients in a typical taco. The high fat taco shell,
the ground beef, the cheese, the guacamole. At first
glance it would seem a difficult task to reduce the
calories in a taco without somehow drastically altering
the taste.
But
let me assure you, it is possible, and the results
are very tasty.
Let's
start with the taco shell. Taco shells are typically
cooked with partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil which
contains unhealthy trans fat. Soft taco shells are
a healthier alternative and they contain less calories
than regular taco shells. So if you decide to make
this recipe frequently I would certainly recommend
wrapping the filling ingredients in a soft taco shell
instead of regular taco shells.
But
there's something special about the crunch of a taco
shell contrasting with the mixture of soft filling
ingredients, so in this instance I'm going to use
regular taco shells.
Adapting
the ground beef filling
The
savory ground beef filling in a taco is also high
in calories and saturated fat. In fact ground beef
(also known as beef mince) is one of the fattiest
types of meat with around 60 percent of calories coming
from fat—a lot of it saturated.
Instead,
our savory ground beef filling is going to be made
from TVP (textured vegetable protein). When I did
a makeover on cheeseburgers
I used this versatile soy-based product, that looks
and tastes like ground beef, to make hamburger patties.
This
time I'll turn the TVP into a "beef" chili
mixture for filling tacos. This not only reduces the
calorie and saturated fat content, but you also get
the health benefits of soy.
The
guacamole and cheese
Guacamole
is made from avocados, which are high in fat. But
most of this fat is heart-healthy monounsaturated
fat. So guacamole is the ideal ingredient to give
you that "mouth feel" of fat without compromising
your health. (Just remember, guacamole is still high
in calories so we won't go drowning our tacos in it.)
Cheese
contains a fair amount of saturated fat, but I'm not
going to recommend you use low fat cheese as a substitute.
Simply use real full-flavored cheese in small amounts.
Too much cheese on a taco takes away from the flavors
of the other ingredients and tends to easily spill
out of the taco anyway.
Before
I show you how to make these healthy tacos, let's
take a look at the nutritional difference between
our healthy tacos and a regular taco:
Our recipe has reduced the calories substantially,
and our taco contains three times less saturated fat
than a typical taco. And remember, if you want to
make this recipe even healthier use soft taco shells
instead of regular taco shells.
Here's
how you make these tacos. This recipe makes 12 tacos,
which serves four people.
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Pour
¾
cup boiling water over 1 cup TVP in a bowl,
cover, and set aside for 15 minutes to soak.
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Dice
an onion, half a red pepper and half a green
pepper.
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Cook
the onion and peppers
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Cook the onion and peppers in a frying pan over
a medium heat in 1 tablespoon of canola or peanut
oil for 5 minutes. Add 2 cloves of finely chopped
garlic, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1½ teaspoons
paprika and ½ teaspoon chili powder and
cook, stirring, for a minute.
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Add
the other ingredients
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Add
the soaked TVP, ½ cup rinsed and drained
canned red kidney beans, 14 oz (420g) canned
chopped tomatoes, 1 cup beef stock, 1 teaspoon
brown sugar, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 teaspoon
salt and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper,
and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium
and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
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Prepare
the guacamole and fresh ingredients
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While
the chili simmers, make the guacamole. Mash
1 halved, deseeded and peeled avocado with
1 teaspoon lemon juice, ½ clove crushed
garlic, ¼ teaspoon sea salt and ¼
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper with
a fork until well combined. Next, prepare
the other fillings and put into separate bowls:
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce; 3 diced tomatoes;
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese; guacamole
and ready-made salsa.
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Heat
the taco shells and serve
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Place
the tacos on a baking tray and heat according
to packet instructions. Fill each taco with
some shredded lettuce, a couple of tablespoons
of chili, diced tomato, salsa, a little guacamole
and grated cheese to serve.
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