Navajo Tacos

Last week was my Matt's birthday.  I still call him and his sister my babies, and, he just turned 14.  Jean turns 13 in March.  Anyway, for my kids birthday, they get to pick what we have for dinner.  This was Matthew's choice.  My mom used to make these all the time.  I make them just like she did, but, I do cheat with the flat bread.  Here it is.

I cook dried beans.  I just do a short soak (bring to a boil and cover let sit for one hour and rinse).  Start with cold water to cover and simmer until done.  Some beans take longer than others, so, just test them after 30 min. and check about every 30 min. until done.  I then brown a pound or more of lean ground beef and onion (1 small) and add to the beans.  I also put in a can of stewed tomatoes (large or small can, depends on your taste).

Let that simmer for a min. or so and then add salt, pepper and cumin.  You can also add red pepper flakes to make it spicy or a can of chopped green chili.  Let that simmer for about 30 min.

Now for the fry bread.  I like Rhodes Texas rolls.  I just let them thaw and put them into a cake pan.  I put mine in a warm oven to rise a little.  Then take a roll and pull it and flatten it as big as you like.

I put about 1/4 inch of canola (or vegetable) oil in a frying pan and let get hot.  You can tell if it is sizzling after dropping a small piece of bread dough in.  When hot, drop the bread disks in.  They cook very fast, only about 1 min. and turn over for about another min (or less).

I drain my bread on paper towels.

Get all your sides together, just like taco's.

Build a taco.  Flat bread, beans, cheese lettuce, onion (we like green onion), sour cream if you have it, and salsa.  Oh, if you have any flat bread left over, you can warm it up, and put honey on it.  Sooo Good!!

My mom used to make these about every two months or so.  My aunt would drive 4 hours one way just to eat.  She would turn right around and head back home with the leftovers - ha ha.

Happy Taco making.

Rhonda