Chicken Sausage Tacos

You know what nobody is mad at? Taco night! These days I am constantly searching for recipes that make my life easier and save me time without compromising taste. With baby cookin’ away, my energy has to be carefully rationed so that I can accomplished everything I want to in a day. That means finding shortcuts to meals. As a chef, I never want to sacrafice on flavor or food quality. I want to enjoy everything that I eat and now I have to think about what I am putting in my body AND my baby’s body.

I am usually not a fan of chicken sausage. When chicken sausage started popping up like crazy in the grocery store, ten years or so ago, I would try different brands and they never lived up to my expectations. More often than not, they were chewy and flavorless. What’s a girl got to do to get some flavor in her chicken sausage? Apparently buy Al Fresco mild Mexican style chicken sausage. I gave it a whirl in some sausage and have never been so happy with a grocery store chicken sausage. It’s made with hatch chiles, which you can see beautiful pieces of in the slices, and it’s also fully cooked (time saver! sear and go #chickenfaster). The spice level is perfect so as to please all the palates in your house, flavor without big heat. It’s an all natural, healthy alternative to pork sausage becuase you can’t go big everyday.

My favorite mexican restaurant serves their taco platters with a size of griddled vegetables. It comes with spring onions, jalapenos, pablanos and radishes. I love topping the tacos with the charred veggies, which is what I did with these tacos. A simple roasted salsa, creamy queso fresco, spicy pickled jalapeños and tangy lime make these tacos a party in your mouth. I also always “splurge” ($2.99) on fresh tortillas in the refrigerator section to take things up a knotch. Start to finish, this dish takes me about 15 minutes.

1, 12 oz package Al Fresco mild Mexican style chicken sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick

fine kosher salt

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 pablano peppers, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

1 bunch green onions

1/2 cup queso fresco

1/4 cup pickled jalapeños

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

Your choice roasted tomato salsa

6 fresh tortilas (available in the refrigerator section)

1. Heat a cast large iron skillet or cast iron griddle (preferred) on high heat. When you see white smoke, add canola oil and allow to coat. Spread the chicken sausage, green onion and pablano peppers evenly on the griddle (if using a cast iron, this may have to be done in batches). Sprinkle peppers and onions with salt. Cook the chicken sausage until golden brown on both sides, char the peppers until blistered and char the green onions until tender. Remove from griddle and set aside.

2. Griddle the fresh tortillas until slightly blistered and warmed through.

3. Build your tacos! I start with sausage, followed with grilled peppers and onions, add the pickled jalapenos, sprinkle with queso fresco, drizzle with salsa and finish with a squeeze of lime.