So here we are... celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Did you know that this holiday is NOT Mexican Independence Day? It is however a celebration held on May 5th in the United States and in Mexico (primarily in the state of Puebla) where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla which means The Day of the Battle of Puebla. The date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Well, that was your history lesson of the day and... you are welcome ;) Gotta love Wikipedia.
If you know me personally or have read my previous posts, then you know how much I love Mexican food. I call it the happy food since it always puts a big smile on my face. I have been thinking about this post a lot and wondered what I could possibly make that could be consumed for this occasion yet keep the integrity of my Persian blog! Persian foods are not necessarily spicy, they are stew-like and mostly served with rice. There are however some dishes that can easily be turned into tacos, wraps, sliders and so forth and will be absolutely wonderful. So I decided to manipulate a favorite dish and make tacos just to see...
It's one of those things... when in doubt, roast some part of a chicken or just a whole one in the oven! Well that being said, we have come up with so many different ways to do so just to change things up a bit since one can easily get bored in our household! AND here we are again, creating a new one for a Mexican-inspired dish. The great thing about this dish is that not only it's easy to make, but also a figure-friendly one. You can also prepare and serve this dish with your favorite seasonal vegetable as well as rice or couscous. I also decided to create a light salad to "sprinkle" on top of these tacos without losing our Persian self!
Saffron-Lemon
Chicken Tacos
1
large chicken breast cut in 2 halves – boneless and skinless
1
medium onion – thinly sliced
¼
cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8
teaspoon saffron powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
½
teaspoon sea salt
¼
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½
teaspoon Coriander seed
Small
flour tortillas
1
avocado – thinly sliced
Preheat
oven at 375 degrees. In a heat-proof
baking dish, lay the sliced onion and the chicken breasts over it. Mix all the other ingredients in a small bowl
and pour over them. Place in the oven
and roast for 30-35 minutes until they are fully cooked. While still warm, shred the breasts by
forking them. Mix with the roasted onion
and the remaining of the juice in the dish.
Saffron-Lemon Chicken
Romaine/Radish/Mint
Salad
1
head of romaine lettuce – washed and finely chopped
5
small radishes – washed and thinly sliced
1
tablespoon of fresh mint leaves – washed and finely minced
Dressing
¼
cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8
cup extra virgin olive oil
1
teaspoon sea salt
¼
teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Romaine/Radish/Mint Salad
Place the flour tortillas and add some of the chicken mixture to them. Top them with sliced avocado and the romaine/radish/mint salad.
Saffron-Lemon Chicken Tacos
I just had these for dinner and they are amazing! I hope you will enjoy them too.
Have a super Cico de Mayo!
