By Krishen Goswami

Cooking at home has many benefits. It is not only healthier, but cheaper. It is extremely beneficial for teens of all ages to have a couple recipes under their belt to maintain the integrity of their diet. For those heading off to college soon, this means more than just ramen for dinner every night. Here is one of my personal favorites!

Chicken Tacos:

The Ingredients-

• Three Bay Leaves
• One Onion
• Six Cloves of Garlic
• Three Large Tomatoes
• One Large Carrot
• One Large Red Bell Pepper
• One Tbsp Salt
• Two Tbsp Pepper
• Chipotle Chili Powder (to taste)
• Two Tbsp Cumin
• Chicken Breast or Thigh (substitute with any meat of your choice)

The Process-

            First, we need to get our chicken in a large boiling pot of water. This is necessary for shredding them later on. We can go ahead and throw half of our onion, two cloves of garlic, and the bay leaves in with our chicken. After about 15 minutes, throw salt and pepper to taste in our boiling pot. This whole process can be substituted for some pre-cooked chicken for slightly less delicious results.

Now, we can start on our sauce. Start by heating an oven to 400º F. Peel the carrot and onion but leave the skin on the tomatoes and garlic. Then oil a baking sheet and throw our remaining vegetables on. Go ahead and drown our veggies in oil as well, they should be looking shiny and plump. Once your oven has come to temperature, throw your baking sheet in. It should take about 15-20 minutes for our veggies to be ready, but each oven is different, so check regularly for a char just beginning to form.

Check on the chicken now, 30 minutes after the initial drop in, it should be easily pulling apart. If it is, take it out. Don’t waste the water! You have just made quick and easy chicken stock full of flavor.

Once the veggies are slightly charred, they are ready to be thrown in a blender along with the garlic and onion which accompanied the chicken. Turn the blender on low and stream in oil and your stock until you reach your preferred sauce consistency. Leave the blender on low to obtain a silky-smooth sauce and get to shredding the chicken with two forks

The final step is to cook your blended sauce with the shredded chicken in a pan (the one from earlier works just fine) for about 10 minutes just so everything comes together. Now all that’s left…

Assembly-

            Heat up some tortillas of your choice, go ahead and scoop your chicken in, and enjoy! If wanted, add some toppings. Guacamole, Mexican cheese, and diced tomatoes are my personal favorites. Feel free to personalize and tweak this recipe to your likings, these are just the building blocks to some great tacos!