Today, I have for you a new blogger to follow! Angela from Paleo Kitchen Lab is sharing her spin on mexican food! Do you ever miss tortillas? I sure as hell do. Not many things are as good as a soft tortilla that’s smothered in cheese and beans and more cheese. But alas, that’s a bit hard to replicate. So once in a while I make paleo tortillas, but usually just end up eating my taco insides by themselves. It’s just easier. BUT NOW, I have an amazing yucca tostada to eat my taco meat on. Amazing! Check out Angela ASAP!
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I live in San Francisco, where Mexican food is an art form. As good as it tastes, taqueria fare is not the healthiest. We Paleo peeps aren’t that into corn or flour tortillas, inflammatory cooking oils and low quality meat.
Because my husband and I both healed digestive issues with the Paleo diet we are firm believers in its healing powers. But we also hate deprivation. That’s why I’ve been making my own Mexican fiesta meals at home.
In my Paleo Kitchen Lab, I’ve recreated a grain-free, grass-fed version of a loaded tostada. I use lamb as my meat of choice but ground chicken, pork or beef would also work.
For my tostada tortilla I used yuca dough. Yuca is a root-like tuber that’s very popular in Latin America, Asia and Africa. But it’s gaining in popularity in the Paleo world because it’s a great alternative to potato and makes an incredibly versatile dough without any eggs. I’ve used yuca dough to make empanadas, calzones, pizza crust and waffles.
If you can’t find yuca locally, you can always buy some on Amazon.com or use tapioca starch (tapioca comes from yuca) as substitution. I give you both the yuca tapioca recipes below.
This dish consists of 4 different layers. Leave out whatever ingredients you can’t eat. It will still be delicious.
Ok enough talk, let’s get cooking.
Guest Post: Lamb Taco Fiesta
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
For the Yuca tortilla ingredients*
- 1 cup of peeled, mashed and boiled yuca
- 2 tablespoons of oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- (If dough is too wet add 1-2 tablespoons of tapioca)
For the Spiced lamb filling
- 1/2 pound of ground lamb (or ground meat of choice)
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: ¼ onion diced for added flavor
For the Guacamole
- Two avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons of red onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 Tablespoon of chopped cilantro
- Optional: Jalapeno or Habanero pepper, chopped (amount depends on your spice tolerance) You can also use 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
For the salsa
- One large tomato, cubed
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of cilantro
- Jalapeno, chopped (amount should reflect your spice tolerance)
- 1 tablespoon of red onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
Optional condiments and toppings: Greek yogurt and sliced/shredded cheese (I used spicy jalapeno yogurt cheese from Trader Joes).
Instructions
Make the tortillas
- Peel yucca (make sure to get all the skin off, boil for 35 minutes and mash it).
- Mix mashed yucca with other ingredients in a bowl.
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees and form 4 tortilla rounds by hand or use a rolling pin. (the tortillas should be about the width of your hand from the tip of your finger to the wrist)
- Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and they will harden up nicely.
For the meat
- If using diced onion sauté in cooking oil of choice until the start to turn translucent.
- Add lamb and break it up with your spatula as you saute the lamb.
- The lamb is done when you no longer see any pink areas.
- Spice the meat with spices above and mix in well.
- Layer over your Paleo tortilla.
For the guac
- Mash ingredients above in a bowl with a fork.
- Consistency should be chunky and spices and lime should be mixed in well.
- Layer over tortilla and ground lamb.
For the salsa
- Mix ingredients above in a bowl and serve over the guacamole.
Notes
*Substitution recipe with tapioca
1 cup of tapioca flour/starch
1 teaspoon of salt
optional: 1 teaspoon of cumin
½ cup of coconut milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil and more for cooking the tortillas
How to
Mix all the ingredients above in a bowl. You can use a hand mixer or mix by hand with a fork. Make sure to mix well to get the lumps out.
This recipe makes about 4 tortillas. You want to cook them in a pan like a crepe.
Divide the batter into 4 parts and pour into a hot skillet with cooking fat of choice.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat and flip over when the top of the tortilla starts to cook. Cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat one more time until the tortilla is cooked through. Repeat with the remainder of the batter.
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Angela Privin discovered the Paleo diet 10 years ago when she used it to heal here symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Angela learned when she went Paleo and was so inspired by the robust flavors of real food and how they made her feel. She blogs about her food adventures at Paleo Kitchen Lab.
I’m intrigued. I’ve been truly disappointed with some of the paleo versions of buns, etc using plantains; maybe this is the better solution! Excited to try.
Holy cow this looks delicious.
ummm drool!
Made this last night, and I have to say, it was surprisingly fantastic (only surprising because I don’t think I’ve ever boiled yucca root to make tortillas). The yucca root was a little goopy, so I just added some tapioca flour, and it worked perfectly. Living in Austin, Texas, tortillas are a mainstay, and this is a very good substitute. A couple of comments:
1. I would make sure that you leave these in the oven long enough. Mine were probably slightly thicker than they needed to be, and took a little bit longer to fully cook.
2. I found the combination a little salty, so next time I’d probably cut the salt in half.
I’ve made the tapioca version of these tortillas twice this week already! They are ridiculously good. I feel like they have the potential to be really awesome dessert tacos if you threw some cinammon and coconut sugar in there (& obviously had different toppings)?
Thanks for another amazing dinner option!
I tried this last night having never touched a yucca before. While it took some time to prep, cook and cool the yucca, this was a great treat for football night! My daughter and husband loved it. Definitely worth the effort.
this was the best meal I had ever had. IN MY LIFE.