I don’t eat grains. Mostly. I went off wheat for a long time and now it makes me ache when I have it in any substantial way. If I eat a small pizza I’m instantly congested and it starts a sneezing fit. I don’t even know, it’s bizarre. Maybe it’s the cheese. Anyway, this presents special problems when I’ve got a meal I really really love, except for what goes around it — bread, flatbread, tortilla, taco shell.
So normally I make this thing with cabbage leaves, but cabbage was a dollar a pound at Safeway tonight, and the smallest cabbage on offer weighed three pounds. Mostly I stay away from dairy too, so no butter-braised cabbage for me, and I can’t eat that much borscht or coleslaw, so. Bell peppers, on the other hand, were a dollar each, and I picked up this gigantic gnarly yellow thing that looked like it would make a good carnitas receptacle, and this happened.
NOTE: If you’ve got leftover cactus from that desert stir-fry recipe, now is a great time to use them — toss them in with the jalapeños and onions!
Crunchy Bell Pepper Tacos, or oh shit, I am never eating cabbage again
- 1 lb cheap lean beef (not ground), thinly-sliced
- ¼ yellow onion, sliced into strips
- 2 jalapeños, diced
- 2 large bell peppers, normal-shaped is best
- 8 oz tomato paste
- ½ Tbsp cumin
- 3 Tbsp lard, tallow or olive oil (not extra-virgin)
Get out your crock pot, and put in all the beef, along with 1 cup of water. Turn it on high and cook six hours, or until the beef falls apart when you grab it with tongs.
When beef is ready, heat some cooking oil in a pan and fry the jalapeños and onions together, until onions are translucent.
Quarter the peppers, and remove the white insides, and any seeds. Set aside.
Add the beef, tomato paste and cumin, and any additional oil you need to prevent the beef from sticking to the pan. When everything is warm and mixed together, turn off the heat and fill the bell pepper “shells” with the taco filling. Top with any normal taco sauces or toppings.
