Ensalada De Taco De Gregorio

I’ve been Egging it now for a little over a year so when my wife told me she wanted a taco salad for her birthday dinner I decided to forgo looking up a recipe and try to concoct something myself. She was very satisfied with the end result (which is all I can ask for 🙂 ). She requested pork and chicken for the protein, but you could pretty much use whatever you want (or nothing at all!).

What I like most about this recipe is that it uses all aspects of the Big Green Egg. You’ll grill, you’ll smoke, and you’ll bake. It has it all!

So here it is. Ensalada De Taco De Gregorio.

EGGcessories Needed:

ConvEGGtor

Dual Probe Thermometer

Grid Lifter

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 lb pork chop on the bone
• ½ cup lime juice
• ¼ cup + 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Worcester sauce
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 red bell pepper
• 10 – 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1 Spanish onion
• 4 twelve inch tortillas
• Cup of warm water
• 4 slices of bacon cooked and cut into bacon bit pieces.
• Toppings
• 4 oz Monterey Jack Cheese
• 4 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole
• Corn (off the cob)
• Shredded lettuce
• Pico de Gallo
• Black olives
• Salsa

Directions

Cook the bacon on the stove until it is crisp, but not burnt.

Or if you have the Plancha cast iron griddle go nuts and do that on the Egg too!

Grilling the meat

Make the marinade by mixing lime juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, Worcester sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic pepper, and onion pepper.

Place the chicken in one bag, and the pork chop in another bag. Pour half the marinade in one bag, and the rest in the other.

Marinade for 24 hours flipping the bags over occasionally.

I did mine for 48, but I wasn’t going to be home the day before. 24 should be enough.

Preheat the Big Green Egg to 250° F using indirect heat.

Put a drip pan on the ConvEGGtor so it’s underneath the grid. Pour the juices from the bags into the drip pan.

Place the chicken and pork on the cooking grid. Cook for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170° F.

I used my dual probe thermometer to monitor the temperature.

Let the meat cool.

Using a grid lifter to lift the grid, remove the drip pan.

Making the taco bowls.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then place an empty can on top of that with a foil square draped over the top.

Place the baking sheet and the can on the grid of the Big Green Egg.

Keep the heat indirect, and adjust the temperature to 450° F.

Add warm water and ¼ tsp olive oil to a bowl (large enough so you can submerge the tortilla).

Submerge a tortilla into the water. Lift out and let drip until damp into the bowl.

I made the mistake of buying 10″ tortillas. I changed it to 12″ because they were slightly too small. That’s why my bowls may look a little smaller than yours.

Drape the tortilla over the can and bake for 5 minutes. Turn the baking sheet 180 degrees and bake for another 2 minutes. It should be stiff and browning.

Flip the tortilla so it’s cup side up and bake with the Egg lid open for about 10 seconds.

This is just so you can get a flat bottom to the bowl, so in and out. I burnt 2 tortillas by leaving them in for just 1 minute. It’s insane how fast they will burn. You can almost see the bottom browning from the inside of the bowl.

Lay on a rack to cool, and then do this three more times.

Smoking the Vegetables

Use the Grid Lifter to lift the grid out of the Egg and take out the ConvEGGtor.

Using direct heat, set the Big Green Egg to 300° F adding Applewood chips for smoke.

You know I love my Applewood chips, but you can use pretty much any fruit based chips for this.

Cut the onion in half.

Place the cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, and onion halves on the Egg.

After 5 minutes remove the cherry tomatoes, and flip the red bell pepper.

After 5 more minutes remove the red bell pepper and flip the onion halves.

Another 10 minutes of smoking and remove the onion halves.

Let the vegetables cool.

Prepping for the Taco Bowls

Slice the meat into bite-sized cubes.

Slice the onion halves, and red bell pepper into square pieces, and the lettuce into long pieces.

Grate both kinds of cheese.

Put everything, including all the toppings mentioned, out on the table so your family or guests (or both!) can assemble their bowl any way they want.

Feel free to add, delete, or substitute any of the toppings mentioned above. It’s your Taco Bowl (despite my name being in the title 🙂 ), make it any way you want. I also put out tomatoes that weren’t smoked, just in case.