Bison Chipotle Tacos 3 ways

By: Chef Steve Squier

Serves: 4-8 people

Ground Bison is a great idea for this taco recipe especially when you are looking for a lean meat packed with flavour. This taco recipe is a good way to keep that lean bison juicy with out added fat and is packed with flavour. I will show you how to take this one recipe and serve it three different ways to make meal planning easy without getting boring. If you find chipotle sauce a little too spicy just reduce the chipotle and add a small can of diced tomato. A great avocado salsa brings some brightness to these dishes and helps to cool the spice.  

Ingredients:

Chipotle Sauce

4 Medium Tomatoes

4 Garlic Cloves

2 Medium Onions

3 Chipotle Peppers from a can, canned chipotles can be found in most grocery stores

3 Limes

¼ cup Canola Oil

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Kosher Salt

 Chipotle Taco Mix

2 LB Ground Bison

1 cup Red Pepper, Medium Dice

1 cup Yellow Onion, Medium Diced

1 Tbsp Garlic, Minced

1 cup Chipotle Sauce

1 Tbsp Canola Oil

  Avocado Salsa

3 small Avocados

4 Limes

1 cup Yellow Onion, Rough Chopped

1 ½ cup Cilantro, Chopped

2 Garlic Cloves

¼ cup Jalapeno, Seeded and Chopped

½ tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Kosher Salt

¼ cup Warm Water

 Method:

Chipotle Sauce

1. Peel the onions and cut them in half
2. Put a frying pan on high heat, once the pan is hot place the onions, tomatoes and garlic in the pan and let them char or get black. Move them around the pan to get as much of the ingredients charred as possible. Remove them from the pan as they cook and let them cool slightly.
3. Juice the limes and add to a blender
4. Add the charred vegetables and remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. This sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Note- if you do not have a blender a food processor or hand-held stick blender will work as well

Chipotle Taco Mix

1. Place a large skillet on medium high heat and add half the canola oil to skillet
2. Crumble 2lb of ground bison to the pan and brown.
3. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
4. In the same skillet on medium heat add remaining canola oil, onions, garlic and peppers. Cook until just soft, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the cooked ground bison back to the pan along with the chipotle sauce and stir to incorporate everything. Simmer on low for 15-20 min.

Note: if you find the mix a little dry you can add a little water to bring it back. This mix can also be made in a Slow cooker on the high setting for 1-2 hours. Be sure to brown your bison before putting it in the slow cooker.

 Avocado Salsa

1. Juice limes
2. Place all the remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor with the lime juice and blend until smooth. You can keep this salsa chunky or smooth, how ever you prefer.

Note: This salsa will keep for a couple days but should be enjoyed fresh.

Serving

Option 1: I like to lay everything out on the table family style and let everyone create their own tacos. Some shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, some corn or flour tortillas and lots of limes. Some rice cooked with turmeric and black beans is also an excellent side dish.

Option 2: The next day you can take the left-over taco meat and add a couple spoon full in a line in the middle of some flour tortillas, add some shredded cheese and roll them up. Place the rolled tacos in a casserole dish, top with 1 cup of the chipotle sauce and top with more shredded cheese. Bake these Enchiladas in the oven at 350 F for 20-25min and you have some easy enchiladas.

Option 3: For lunch you can take some turmeric rice, chipotle taco bison taco meat, some shredded lettuce and shredded cheese to make a great burrito bowl. Top that with a little bit of avocado salsa and a couple tortillas.

Three great uses for one meal to make your week easy.