Low Calorie Soft Shell Tacos

Soft shell tacos were originally a recipe where the soft corn taco shells were fried in oil (virgin olive oil of course), and then drained between layers of paper toweling.

Today I gently sauté the soft corn taco shells in a shallow fry pan originally designed for making crepes, and I spray each taco shell with a spray on virgin olive oil spray, before sauting the shells, so very little oil is used in this recipe to heat the corn shells. According to the manufacturer of the oil spray there are no calories. I have to believe that a few calories are added, despite the claim of the manufacturer but certainly the amount of calories added from the oil spray are not the amount of calories that the original recipe added.

I recommend that you use the olive oil spray because other canned oil sprays use soy oil, and soy oil spray smells and tastes funny, sort of like fish frying.

Ingredients

One package (block) of ground grass fed beef, approximately 1 lb of meat. You can also use either ground chicken or ground turkey for this recipe. I usually use the turkey, which is very low in calories.
One 8 oz can of plain tomato sauce.
A dash of dehydrated garlic or one or two cloves of fresh garlic, crushed can be added but you don't need to use garlic in this recipe; it is only an option.

A package of corn tortillas, either yellow or white corn, I prefer the white because of the finer texture of the white corn tortilla but the yellow are also delicious.

You will also need:
The greenest leaf lettuce you can find for the calcium and iron content
A couple of medium fresh red tomatoes
A can of black olives, drained
Cheese, grated cheddar or slices of American Cheese or slices of Soy Cheese, which can be purchased in the vegetable section of your supermarket.

American Cheese contains 100 calories for each slice while Soy Cheese contains 30 calories for each slice, and the American Slices Soy Cheese tastes like the real cheese product. This is good to know if you are cutting calories.

Both types of cheese are complete protein.

Soy is the ONLY vegetable that contains COMPLETE protein much like meat, fish, eggs or dairy are COMPLETE protein.

On the table I always provide:
Fresh sliced avocado
Green onions, (called scallions on the East Coast) washed, trimmed, and chopped
You can include any other type of onion you like in tacos including ‘sweet onions’ and red onions
Washed, chopped pieces of red bell pepper
Chilis of any type including bottled yellow Mezzata Banana Chilis

Of course taco sauce choose your favorite brand...taco sauce contains very few calories because it is vegetable based.

Method

Combine the meat and the can of tomato sauce mix together, and cook over medium heat until all of the liquid is cooked into the meat. This is the ‘secret’ to this taco…the meat is flavored from the tomato sauce and the garlic if you choose to use garlic.

Sauté the soft, corn taco shells in a shallow fry pan using the spray olive oil spray on both sides of the taco. Cook on both sides. Place the tacos on paper toweling even though there is not much oil to drain off of the shells. The paper towels will keep the warmed shells from sticking together.

Wash, and chop the tomatoes, green onions, other onions and avocados.
Drain the can of black olives and put into a small bowl.
Wash the lettuce really well to remove any unwanted residue of field spray, germs or dirt that can be on lettuce, and not be apparent to the eye. Dry the lettuce on paper toweling, and blot off the lettuce with paper toweling.

Finish

Once the meat absorbs all of the liquid, the taco corn shells are sautéed and stacked on paper toweling on a plate, and all of the vegetables are prepared, you are in for a low calorie treat of tacos.
Did you ever believe that tacos could be low calorie before?

Enjoy!

Copyright © 2010 by Carol Garnier Dutra
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