Disclosure: I received a free cookbook from the publisher. Post contains affiliate links; if you make a purchase, I may earn commission. Opinions shared are mine.
The Ultimate Taco Cookbook
If you’re looking for a simple way to prepare delicious food, tacos are the way to go. So versatile and easy to modify, tacos can be created from nearly any recipe. The Ultimate Taco Cookbook, Taco! Taco! Taco! by Sara Haas contains over 100 recipes that will tempt you to try one today.
Try new toppings
At home, I typically only prepare seasoned beef tacos. My people aren’t adventurous eaters, so recipes like Blackened Fish Tacos with Caper Remoulade (page 112) or Turn Up Da Beet Falafel Tacos (page 139) would be wasted on my crew. I love roasted beets, but it’s not worth it to make this recipe for just lonely ole me.
I think I could convince them to consider tasting new toppings, though, like mango. Just setting out a dish of chopped avocado or diced mango might entice them to try something new.
(Photo from the cookbook)
Any meal can become a taco
This cookbook made me realize that, really, any meal can become a taco. Haas takes simple salads — strawberry poppyseed, for example — and tucks them into a tortilla. The result is surprisingly appealing! This cookbook really drives home the point that tacos can be a healthy family-friendly meal option.
I grow baby bok choy in my garden, and my kids love edamame. I’d never thought of putting them into a taco filling, but it’s brilliant. Such grown-up flavor with easy ingredients!
I also liked the section on dessert tacos. While this term is used loosely (crepes are subbed for the tortilla), things like graham cracker pancakes become the perfect vessel for smore’s tacos.
Haas gives lots of shortcuts and hints for streamlining meal prep. Not all of the recipes are completely simple, though. Several recipes required ingredients I don’t normally purchase, or multiple steps.
Enthusiasm
If nothing else, Haas’s enthusiasm for tacos is contagious. You can see it in every exclamation point, and the word “happy” is used over and over. There are not photos for each recipe, unfortunately, but the existing photos are attractive and colorful. My kids are interested in learning to cook, and this cookbook will help provide inspiration for their creations.
The publisher gave us permission to share this recipe for Brown Sugar Chili Salmon Tacos.
Brown Sugar Chili Salmon Tacos
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the salmon:
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 (1 pound) skin-on, wild salmon fillet
For the guacamole topping:
1 ripe avocado
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ jalapeño, diced
1 scallion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
For serving:
8 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas, warmed
2 to 3 cups shredded green cabbage
Directions
Position the oven rack about 5 to 6 inches from the heating element and preheat the broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, brown sugar, cumin, and oil. Place the salmon on the prepared pan, skin-side down. Sprinkle with salt then place in the oven and broil for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread brown sugar mixture over the salmon, then cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork and in-ternal temperature reaches 145°F. While salmon is cooking, prepare the guacamole. Remove the avocado seed and scoop the avocado flesh out of the skin into a medium bowl. Mash with a fork then add the salt, jalapeño, scallion, and lime juice. Stir to combine. Using a fork, break salmon into large pieces. Portion cooked salmon among tortillas and top with guacamole and cabbage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SARA HAAS, RDN, is a food and nutrition expert with formal training in the culinary arts. She works as a freelance writer, recipe developer, media authority, public speaker and consultant dietitian/chef. Sara is a former culinary and nutrition instructor and served as a National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Media Spokesperson. Sara has been featured in Eating Well Magazine, Shape Magazine, Parents Magazine, U.S.A. Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Epicurious, BabyCenter, O Magazine and Today’s Dietitian Magazine. Sara also shares her love of food and nutrition on her website, SaraHaasRDN.com and on Instagram (@cookinRD) where she posts recipes, as well as nutrition and cooking tips.
TACO! TACO! TACO!
Written by Sara Haas
Foreword by Bryan Roof
978-1-57826-752-1, $20.00 paperback
978-1-57826-753-8, $12.99 eBook
Published by Hatherleigh Press.
Distributed through Penguin Random House.
Available wherever books are sold.
www.hatherleighpress.com
What’s your favorite type of taco?
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book.
I like veggie tacos!
I like the taco meat, cheese, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, and guacamole too. (yummy)
I love beef with alot of spices in my taco
I will always choose an al pastor taco if they are on the menu and I can see the meat on the pole..
My favourite taco filling is chicken, spicy, preferably.
Guac and chili
I like ground beef tacos with lots of cheese.
I like beef fajitas as a taco filling.
I like ground venison and we like Nacho’s better than Taco’s.
Ultimate Taco Cookbook i love it. Really it just amazing!
With tacos, you are limited only by your imagination!
This sounds like my kind of cookbook. I love the idea of a taco with salmon!