with Pico de Gallo & Lime Crema

Yield: 2 Servings

Surprisingly, Jed likes these. Simple to make and very tasty. Gayle says these need a vegetable or salad.

• 1yellow onion
• 3TBS Tex-Mex paste, (recipe follows)
• 1Roma tomato
• 1jalapeno pepper (to taste)
• 10oz ground beef

For southwest spice blend:

• 2tsp garlic powder
• ¾tsp cumin
• ¾tsp chili powder

For assembly & serve:

• 6flour tortillas, 6-inch
• ½cup Mexican cheese blend
• 1lime
• 4TBS sour cream
• salt
• 2tsp cooking oil
• 1TBS olive oil

Prep:

Adjust rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with oil (or coat with nonstick spray).

Wash and dry produce.

Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion, mince a few slices until you have 1 TBS. Jalapeno pepper, minced.

Make spice blend:

Mix garlic powder, cumin and chili powder in a small dish.

Make filling:

Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion, cook for 3 minutes. Add beef and spice blend, cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until beef is browned, and onion is softened, 4-6 minutes. Stir in Tex-Mex paste and 1⁄3 cup water. Simmer until mixture has thickened and beef is cooked through, 2-4 minutes more. Turn off heat.

Assemble & bake:

Meanwhile, drizzle tortillas with 1 TBS olive oil, brush or rub to coat on both sides. Place tortillas on a clean work surface. Once beef filling is done, add a heaping ¼ cup filling to one side of each tortilla, then sprinkle each with 1 TBS Mexican cheese blend. Roll up tortillas, starting with filled sides, to create flautas. Place, seam sides down, on prepared sheet.

Make sure the flautas are snug on the sheet—this will prevent them from unrolling. Bake on middle rack until golden-brown and crispy, 8-12 minutes.

Make Pico de Gallo:

While flautas bake, finely dice tomato. Zest and quarter lime. In a small bowl, combine tomato, minced onion, jalapeno pepper (to taste), half the lime zest, and a squeeze of lime juice. Season with salt.

Finish & serve:

In a separate small bowl, combine sour cream, remaining lime zest, and a squeeze of lime juice. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt.

Divide flautas between plates.

Top with Pico de Gallo and lime crema. Serve.

Tex-Mex Paste

3 TBS

2          TBS tomato paste,
2          TBS water,
2          tsp vinegar,
1          TBS dried onion flakes,
1/2        tsp salt (or salt substitute),
1          tsp cornstarch,
pinch      cayenne pepper,
¼          tsp sugar,
¼         tsp onion powder,
pinch      garlic powder