make tacos less fattening & yummier!

I love tacos! I could eat tacos every day! Vegan vegetable tacos, shrimp tacos, chicken fajitas tacos, steak tacos, shredded pork tacos…yummy! Here’s how I stay slim and still eat tacos every week:

1. Use corn tortillas, not flour tortillas. They are smaller, have fewer calories, and great for those than cannot eat gluten or wheat.
2. Grill or broil dry tortillas. Don’t fry or put oil on the tortillas, that adds extra fat and calories, and doesn’t really make the meal taste that much better.
3. Skip the cheese. The salt and extra fat is unnecessary if the other ingredients are fresh.
4. Go light on the guacamole. Avocados are a healthy fat, but they are a high-calorie fruit, so use just a dollop of guacamole on each taco.
5. Limit yourself to 2 or 3 tacos. Portion control is essential for weight loss, and don’t stuff those tacos so much that the contents don’t stay in the taco shell.
6. Choose lean proteins. The fattier the meat, the more calories you’re eating, so choose chicken breast over chicken thighs, carne asada steak over shredded pork or duck, ground turkey breast cooked in stock over ground turkey cooked in its own fat and/or oil. Or, just go for a veggie taco with beans, sautéed onions, zucchini and bell peppers.
7. Go light on the sour cream. While sour cream has about 23 calories per tablespoon, a few dollops can add up to an extra 100 calories you don’t need. Drizzle on the sour cream or, use an unsweetened vegan coconut yogurt, which can be 1/4 th the calories of sour cream.

My dairy-free tacos, prepared above with sliced red bell peppers, cabbage and green onions; chopped fresh cilantro, and plenty of red and green hot sauce, is what I serve to my guests, get rave reviews, and they don’t even know the tacos are guilt-free or low calorie.