Bison Meat Navajo Indian Tacos!

This recipe is from one of our many wonderful cookbooks "Taco Table" by Lois Ellen Frank. This recipe is a variation on the famous Indian tacos that are served at many ceremonial powwows, arts and craft festivals, rodeos, and Pueblo feasts. Walter Whitewater, a Dine' (Navajo) chef, and I came up with this delicious Indian taco variation. We make our fry bread taco bottoms smaller and create a healthy topping for the taco with organically raised bison meat, organic cooked pinto and kidney beans, local organic baby lettuce greens, heirloom tomatoes, and avocado. © Lois Ellen Frank

Bison Meat Navajo Indian Tacos from the Meat Chapter of the Taco Table Cookbook. Featured in this photo is a bison meat Indian taco featuring organically raised local bison with organic beans, green chile, cheese, lettuce, tomato on a piece of homemade fry bread.

INGREDIENTS:

Taco meat:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound organic ground bison meat
1 medium onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cups organic pinto beans, cooked (fresh or canned)
1 cup organic kidney beans, cooked (fresh or canned)
1 tablespoon New Mexico mild red chile powder, ground
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Taco topping:

2 cups organic baby greens, washed and chopped
1 tomato, finely diced
1 8-oz package or 2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup New Mexico or Anaheim green chiles, roasted and peeled, stems removed, and chopped (see Roasting Chiles on page XX for preparation)
1 avocado, fully ripened and sliced

DIRECTIONS:

In a cast-iron skillet or frying pan, heat the olive oil until hot.
Add the ground bison meat and use a slotted spoon or potato masher break the meat into small pieces as it cooks.
Cook until completely brown, stirring to prevent burning, for approximately 5 minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the onion is soft and clear.
Add the tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Add the cooked organic pinto and kidney beans and stir.
Add the New Mexico red chile powder, and salt and stir again.
Let it cook for an additional minute, stirring to prevent burning.
Remove from heat.
Spoon the meat-and-bean mixture on top of a freshly made fry bread, then top with a portion of the baby greens, chopped green chiles, tomato, grated cheddar cheese, and avocado.
Serve immediately.
Makes 8 tacos.

Click here to view "Taco Table" by Lois Ellen Frank.

Used with Permission. Excerpted from The Taco Table Cookbook, Published by Western National Parks Association, © By Lois Ellen Frank

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