Ryan’s Recipe – Taco Cups with Corn and Red Pepper Medley

My wife and I enjoy trying new food creations and frequently rely on the web to provide us with ideas. During a recent viewing of Pintrest, my wife stumbled across this unique take on Mexican food.

Anytime we have Mexican night at the house, we know it's one of the few nights we won't have an issue with kids eating all their food. The problem I run into is trying to find different ways to essentially do the same thing. I've done every combination possible, burritos, hard shell and soft shell tacos, enchiladas, and nachos. After a while, even with all the possibilities, Mexican night can get aburrido (that's Spanish for "boring"...thanks Google Translate!).

These taco cups are fairly easy to make and offer a nice change of pace to the run-of-the-mill Mexican Night by using wonton wrappers to create the bowl opposed to the traditional flour or corn tortillas. The addition of the Corn & Red Pepper Medley adds a nice bit of spice on the side.

Taco Cups

The original recipe was a tad on the healthy side caller for leaner ground beef than what we used along with reduced fat cheese. In my head healthier means less flavor, so we adjusted it to fit our taste. Obviously, you could adjust it to be as healthy (or not) as you want.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef

• 1 packet taco seasoning

• 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

• 16 wonton wrappers (I found them in the produce section of Schnucks)

• 5 T + 1t of queso dip or salsa con queso

• 1 cup chunky salsa

• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 and lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

Brown the ground beef until no longer pink and drain.

Return beef to the pan and add taco seasoning according to package directions.

Add black beans and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until warm. Remove beef and beans from heat to avoid overcooking.

Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin.

Spoon a teaspoon of queso dip into each wonton wrapper and spread across the bottom.

Follow by spooning some of the meat/beans mixture into each cup and then spooning a teaspoon or so of salsa on top of that. Sprinkle a pinch of the cheese evenly over the top of each cup.

Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients.

Just press around the edges, as if you are putting on the top of a pie.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin (we used a spoon to help get them out).

Corn & Red Pepper Medley

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn

• 1 tablespoon olive oil (vegetable or canola will work as well)

• 1 large sweet red peppers, chopped

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 4 Tb dried parsley

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet, cook corn in oil for 2 minutes. Add the red peppers, onion and garlic; cook and stir for 4-6 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender. Add parsley, chili powder, salt and pepper; cook 1-2 minutes longer.