chicken tacos w’ grilled corn & avocado salsa

Miss G. is officially walking!

YAY!!!

Watching her take those first wobbly steps, smile beaming, eyes lit up with a mixture of amazement and excitement was just beautiful.

R. and I cheered her on whilst her beautiful tubby little legs carried her across the living room floor all the time knowing it was one of those magical family moments we’ll treasure forever.

To celebrate her big girl moment I decided to put together one of our favourite family meals, chicken tacos.

Miss G. loves mexican food, especially salsa so I knew this was the perfect simple supper to celebrate with.

Todays taco incarnation consists of softly toasted tortillas topped with lightly spiced chicken and a gorgeous salsa.

The chicken nestled in these tacos is perfect for the little ones because I ditched the usual hot and spicy flavours usually associated with mexican food and instead opted for a more mellow spice mix of a little cumin, sweet paprika and lemon zest.  The coating is just enough to give the chicken a sweet subtle flavour without any of the heat, Miss G. loved it!  Also, rather than chopping the chicken, I decided to roast the breasts whole then use a couple of forks to shred them creating the perfect shape for little hands to hold and nibble on with ease.

Whilst the chicken was baking I decided to grill a little corn to add to the salsa and am so happy I did.  The sweet kernels of just charred corn added a beautiful brightness to our usual salsa of avocado, cherry tomatoes, coriander and lime and had us coming back for more.  And more.  And more.  It’s seriously moreish.

These tacos are a joy to prepare and a complete pleasure to eat.  A beautiful way to celebrate.

To create these gorgeous chicken tacos with grilled corn and avocado salsa simply…

Begin by preheating the oven to 200 degrees (390F).  Pop the chicken breasts onto an oven tray lined with baking paper.  Sprinkle each breast with a dusting of cumin and sweet paprika and coat well.  Zest over half a lemon and drizzle with a little olive oil before popping into the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Remove from the oven and use two forks to shred the chicken.  Set aside.

Place the corn cobs onto a baking tray lined with foil.  Zest over the other half of the lemon and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Fold the foil to cover the corn (as if you’re wrapping a present) and pop into the oven to roast alongside the chicken for a good 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, open the foil carefully and place the corn under a screaming hot grill just until the corn start to blacken a little.  Set aside and cool a little.

Pop the corn cobs onto a chopping board and run a knife along each cob to remove the kernels.  Pop the kernels into a large bowl.

Dice the avocado, halve the cherry tomatoes and chop a little coriander (or parsley if you prefer).

Add the avocado, tomato and parsley to the corn along with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the zest and juice of a lime.  Toss to combine.  Heat tortilla’s according to packet instructions.

To assemble; top the hot tortilla with a little of the shredded spiced chicken and a good helping of the zesty corn and avocado salsa.  Enjoy.

chicken tacos w’ grilled corn & avocado salsa

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken breasts

1 teaspoon cumin, ground

1 teaspoon sweet paprika, ground

zest of a lemon

extra virgin olive oil

2 corn cobs

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped

zest and juice of 1 lime

tortillas, heated according to packet instructions

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 F).  Place the chicken breasts on an oven tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle the cumin and paprika over the chicken breasts and turn the chicken to coat evenly in the spices.  Zest over half a lemon, drizzle with a little olive oil and pop into the oven to bake for 18 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked.  Remove and use two forks to roughly shred.  Set aside.

Place the corn on an oven tray lined with foil, zest over the rest of the lemon and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Wrap up the corn in the foil to create a packet and pop into the oven along with the chicken to bake for 15-20 minutes or until the corn is tender.  Heat grill to high.  Remove the corn from the oven, carefully open the foil packet and pop under the grill for 5 minutes or until slightly charred.  Allow to cool slightly.  Place the corn onto a chopping board and run a knife down each cob to remove the kernels.

In a large bowl place the corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, avocado, parsley, lime zest and juice and olive oil and toss to combine.

To assemble; top each tortilla with a little shredded spiced chicken and a good helping of grilled corn & avocado salsa.  Enjoy x.

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