Make your lips burn…in a good way with these sweetly spicy Gluten Free Mango Adobe Style Steak Tacos. Go ahead and spice up your taco Tuesdays!
Don’t you just love all these outdated cartoons and sitcoms that have been updated to apply to the younger generation of kids???
Yeah, me neither!
What happened to the good old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Full House (don’t get me started on my disappointment) and other reminiscent television shows of my youth?! I can’t even watch the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes without feeling a little creeped out. Although I don’t know why I in my 33 years of age with 2 children, a crazy daily schedule, and a time sucking hobby like blogging would ever even have time to sit down a watch a cartoon in the first place.
But, the snippets of those turtles that I’ve seen, along with all the merchandise in the dollar section of Target, are just not the same as the cute but tough turtles of my days.
Once they start rewriting Rainbow Bright, they’re going to have to answer to me because I will be one MAD MAMA!
Emry has been fixated on this Care Bears episode where Share Bear loses all her baking finesse when she becomes jealous of some delicious cookies Grumpy Bear bakes. She tries giving her treats away for free just to get people to eat them over Grumpy’s magnificent cookies, but her baking has become so terrible that not even FREE will get the other bears to partake.
Yes, yes…I do have a point here. I promise I am not just giving you an episode recap of Care Bears that I have been listening to in the background while cleaning up preschool and my ever exploding kitchen.
Moral of the episode is that Share Bear’s baking has become so awful because she has lost her love for it. Grumpy may not follow directions, measure ingredients, or pay attention to any baking details, but his enjoyment while baking makes up for it all and his baked goods taste as good as the “love” he’s baked them with.
Awwwwwww! Isn’t this how cooking/baking should always be???! It doesn’t matter any of the steps…as long as you have FUN then your food is superb?! This sounds like a perfect philosophy to me. If this were the case, I would be America’s best chef. Wait, forget America! I would be the greatest chef that has ever graced this planet because I love creating in the kitchen.
But alas, many of my culinary attempts do not work out so nicely and I hate to admit the amount of flops that have fallen victim to my garbage can. What keeps me afloat among all these failures???
Well, let me tell you. When my hubby turns to me and says, “This is one of the best meals you’ve ever made. Yep, definitely going in my top 10!”
It’s times like these that rejuvenate my cooking spirit and get my tired feet back in the kitchen with a determination to conquer ALL…or at least the next meal…
One meal that recently made it’s mark on Ben’s Top 10 Dinners was these Gluten Free Mango Adobe Style Steak Tacos. It’s basically a street taco with attitude. Major attitude. You know, like the bully kid taunting you to fight on the playground after school kind of attitude.
These tacos are fierce.
These tacos are fiery.
These tacos are FANTASTIC!!!
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never actually had adobe sauce before, and I have never cooked with chipotle peppers. So, when I spotted a can of chipotle peppers in adobe sauce at the grocery store, I was feeling a little adventurous and bought the combo. Annnnnd, the can sat in my cupboard for a few weeks while I chose to ignore my impulsive purchase.
And then one day I was brave. Once the can was cracked, there was no going back.
I tasted a bit of the sauce so I knew what I was working with. My mouth was on FIRE!!!!!!! Woah baby! First order of business was to tame that sauce: coconut sugar, grape juice, water…that oughta do it. And it did!
After marinating my flank steak in adobe sauce, coconut sugar, red wine vinegar, and lime juice for 30 minutes, I reduced it with some grape juice and water to balance out the heat. I also cooked some dried mangoes into the mixture to add another element of sweetness, and some extra texture to the tacos when spooned on top. Good Great idea! The chewy pieces of mango softened up as they cooked in the sauce, and the sweet, tangy, fruitiness was just killer in flavor.
That sauce was MONEY!
It was still spicy enough that it gave your lips a little tingle, but not so hot that you had to guzzle down a glass of water in between bites of taco. Ben enjoyed the sauce so much that he packed it in his lunch the next day to add to a leftover taco salad. Then he spooned some more on top of his chili and baked potato that evening for another spicy adventure.
These tacos really do remind me of a street taco you would get in one of those “hole in the wall, but oh so good food” type joints. It’s a tiny little taco on a corn tortilla that delivers 20 times the amount of flavor than you would expect. It’s a show stopper indeed.
Oh, and did I mention that, besides the marinating time, this is a 30 minute meal??? Let me hear a woot woot for that little detail. The steak only takes 8-10 minutes to cook depending on your doneness preference, and while the steak is cooking, you chop up your veggies and prepare your other taco toppings. Once the steak is done, place it on a plate to rest, and reduce your sauce in the same pan. Easy as that.
So start planning your next fiesta just so you have a reason to make these tasty tacos. Or, you know, just make them for you because you’re the only one that really matters, right??? RIGHT!
What are your flavor ideas for tacos?
- For the steak and mango adobe sauce:
- 1½ lb. flank steak
- 1 can chipotle peppers in adobe sauce (7 oz.)
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- juice of 1 lime
- ½-3/4 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup grape juice
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup thinly sliced dried mangoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Additional taco ingredients:
- 8 corn tortillas
- sour cream
- shredded cheese
- diced tomatoes
- guacamole or sliced avocados
- cilantro
- lettuce
- salsa
- other toppings of choice
- Place steak in a ziploc bag and empty adobe sauce to bag. Add coconut sugar, red wine vinegar, and lime juice. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Chill in fridge and remove 15 minutes prior to cooking. Remove steak from bag, saving sauce inside, and season both sides of steak with salt.
- Once ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once skillet is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles, place steak in skillet. Reduce heat to just below medium and cook for 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on preference of doneness. I cooked mine for 4½ minutes on each side for medium.
- Remove steak and allow to rest on a plate for 5-10 minutes before cutting so juices may redistribute. Save drippings in pan.
- While steak is resting, make sauce. Strain seeds and chipotle peppers from sauce left in bag and discard. Add grape juice, water, and sliced dried mango to strained sauce. Pour into cast iron skillet with drippings from steak. Simmer for 5 minutes over medium low, stirring occasionally until sauce has reduced to liking.
- After steak has rested, cut into strips across the grain. Assemble tacos on warm corn tortillas with meat, adobe sauce, and other desired toppings.
